Audio průvodce v muzejní praxi

The topic of the paper is the use of audioguides in the contemporary museum practice. It includes an overview of the development of the audioguides and their use since their implementation, the Czech and world research and case studies as well as the guidance through the process of creating an audioguide. It also deals with the audioguides designed for the visually impaired visitors and their specific requirements.

A Paradoxical Convergence: National Identity and Gender in 'The Topp Twins' Exhibition and the New Zealand Rugby Museum

<p>In May 2017, there was a strange convergence inside Palmerston North’s Te Manawa museum. As visitors arrived on the first floor, they were left with two options. Turn left for the New Zealand Rugby Museum, or turn right for an exhibition on Jools and Lynda Topp. Left for masculinist rugby history. Right for radical activist lesbians. While both exhibitions have very different subject matter, themes of gender and national identity are prevalent within them both. Using this convergence as an entry point, this thesis considers the ways national identity and gender are put on display within the permanent exhibition at the New Zealand Rugby Museum and The Topp Twins exhibition. Using data from interviews with key people involved with the two exhibitions, documentary research, and analysis of the two exhibitions, this thesis asks how New Zealand national identity and gender are narrated and displayed within The Topp Twins and the New Zealand Rugby Museum, and considers what this means for museum practice. In so doing, the thesis begins with an overview of key literature looking at nation, discourse and gender in museum and heritage scholarship. It also considers literature of New Zealand identity formation and gender. The intellectual foundation of this thesis resides in the idea that gender, nation and museums are intimately bound. In the second part of the thesis, an investigation into the historical and contemporary context of the two exhibitions is conducted. This section provides an overview of the content and design of the exhibits. In combining both the context and content of the exhibitions, the thesis is able to consider intentions as well as the outcomes of the two. The final part of the thesis considers the ways national identity and gender have been presented within The Topp Twins exhibition and the New Zealand Rugby Museum. This chapter shows that while gender is presented in very different ways, the museums have a very similar narrative about ‘New Zealandness’.</p>

A Paradoxical Convergence: National Identity and Gender in 'The Topp Twins' Exhibition and the New Zealand Rugby Museum

<p>In May 2017, there was a strange convergence inside Palmerston North’s Te Manawa museum. As visitors arrived on the first floor, they were left with two options. Turn left for the New Zealand Rugby Museum, or turn right for an exhibition on Jools and Lynda Topp. Left for masculinist rugby history. Right for radical activist lesbians. While both exhibitions have very different subject matter, themes of gender and national identity are prevalent within them both. Using this convergence as an entry point, this thesis considers the ways national identity and gender are put on display within the permanent exhibition at the New Zealand Rugby Museum and The Topp Twins exhibition. Using data from interviews with key people involved with the two exhibitions, documentary research, and analysis of the two exhibitions, this thesis asks how New Zealand national identity and gender are narrated and displayed within The Topp Twins and the New Zealand Rugby Museum, and considers what this means for museum practice. In so doing, the thesis begins with an overview of key literature looking at nation, discourse and gender in museum and heritage scholarship. It also considers literature of New Zealand identity formation and gender. The intellectual foundation of this thesis resides in the idea that gender, nation and museums are intimately bound. In the second part of the thesis, an investigation into the historical and contemporary context of the two exhibitions is conducted. This section provides an overview of the content and design of the exhibits. In combining both the context and content of the exhibitions, the thesis is able to consider intentions as well as the outcomes of the two. The final part of the thesis considers the ways national identity and gender have been presented within The Topp Twins exhibition and the New Zealand Rugby Museum. This chapter shows that while gender is presented in very different ways, the museums have a very similar narrative about ‘New Zealandness’.</p>

Augmented Reality On Display: How might augmented reality technology be used to create meaningful interactive museum exhibits?

<p>The aim of this thesis is to explore augmented reality technology and the methods in which it can be applied to museum displays to enriching the experience of visitors. Artefacts within museums have rich histories which are not always apparent. This is due to the way artefacts are currently displayed and the way information is communicated in exhibitions. is project will set out design guidelines to inform the development of augmenting museum experiences. These guidelines will provide criteria and parameters for the use of augmented reality in museums, and will also be accessible to museum staff to create or enhance existing exhibits for visitors. The guidelines will be produced through a combination of different contextual research methods and will inform a final designed case study. These contextual research methods include: completing a practical exploration of augmented reality exhibits, reviewing museum practice and conducting a series of interviews directed at augmented reality experts. Once these guidelines are produced they will be tested using research through design and human centred design methods in a final case study. The findings of this thesis aim to emphasise how augmented reality is a tool for enhancing the communication of contextual history. It also forms the basis for further research into how augmented reality’s combination of virtual and physical worlds can broaden our experience of the museum space.</p>

Augmented Reality On Display: How might augmented reality technology be used to create meaningful interactive museum exhibits?

<p>The aim of this thesis is to explore augmented reality technology and the methods in which it can be applied to museum displays to enriching the experience of visitors. Artefacts within museums have rich histories which are not always apparent. This is due to the way artefacts are currently displayed and the way information is communicated in exhibitions. is project will set out design guidelines to inform the development of augmenting museum experiences. These guidelines will provide criteria and parameters for the use of augmented reality in museums, and will also be accessible to museum staff to create or enhance existing exhibits for visitors. The guidelines will be produced through a combination of different contextual research methods and will inform a final designed case study. These contextual research methods include: completing a practical exploration of augmented reality exhibits, reviewing museum practice and conducting a series of interviews directed at augmented reality experts. Once these guidelines are produced they will be tested using research through design and human centred design methods in a final case study. The findings of this thesis aim to emphasise how augmented reality is a tool for enhancing the communication of contextual history. It also forms the basis for further research into how augmented reality’s combination of virtual and physical worlds can broaden our experience of the museum space.</p>

Non-Core Business? An examination of university art galleries in New Zealand Aotearoa

<p>University art galleries are the most common form of campus museum in New Zealand and are increasingly viewed as alternative and innovative interdisciplinary teaching tools. Much of the literature concerning university art galleries discusses the potential of these organisations to act as forums, laboratories and portals for the presentation of diverse ideas within institutions of higher education. Yet these organisations are often overlooked by their parent organisation and considered superfluous to the university’s core business. Despite the ubiquity of university art galleries, little research has been undertaken regarding these organisations within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. This dissertation explores this issue by examining the ways in which university art galleries have integrated themselves into their university communities. This dissertation provides a general and concise overview of university art galleries in New Zealand and then presents two in-depth case studies, examining first the Gus Fisher Gallery and then the George Fraser Gallery at the University of Auckland. By utilising a wide range of sources including international and local theoretical literature, interviews, and documentation of public programmes and exhibition histories, these two case studies demonstrate that university art galleries contribute to their parent organisation in a variety of ways. These include serving as an important public interface for the university by showcasing academic and creative scholarship undertaken by the institution’s staff, students, and alumni; acting as a vehicle through which the university can achieve strategic and academic goals and objectives, and assisting the university in fulfilling its duty to act as the “critic and conscience of society”. This dissertation makes a contribution to museum studies and current museum practice by addressing a gap in the New Zealand literature on this topic. It is the first critical academic analysis of university art galleries in this country situated in relation to British and American theory. In particular, it builds upon and refines Janet Marstine’s argument that university art galleries can lead in the development of the Post-Museum and questions whether Marstine’s theories can apply to the New Zealand context.</p>

Non-Core Business? An examination of university art galleries in New Zealand Aotearoa

<p>University art galleries are the most common form of campus museum in New Zealand and are increasingly viewed as alternative and innovative interdisciplinary teaching tools. Much of the literature concerning university art galleries discusses the potential of these organisations to act as forums, laboratories and portals for the presentation of diverse ideas within institutions of higher education. Yet these organisations are often overlooked by their parent organisation and considered superfluous to the university’s core business. Despite the ubiquity of university art galleries, little research has been undertaken regarding these organisations within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. This dissertation explores this issue by examining the ways in which university art galleries have integrated themselves into their university communities. This dissertation provides a general and concise overview of university art galleries in New Zealand and then presents two in-depth case studies, examining first the Gus Fisher Gallery and then the George Fraser Gallery at the University of Auckland. By utilising a wide range of sources including international and local theoretical literature, interviews, and documentation of public programmes and exhibition histories, these two case studies demonstrate that university art galleries contribute to their parent organisation in a variety of ways. These include serving as an important public interface for the university by showcasing academic and creative scholarship undertaken by the institution’s staff, students, and alumni; acting as a vehicle through which the university can achieve strategic and academic goals and objectives, and assisting the university in fulfilling its duty to act as the “critic and conscience of society”. This dissertation makes a contribution to museum studies and current museum practice by addressing a gap in the New Zealand literature on this topic. It is the first critical academic analysis of university art galleries in this country situated in relation to British and American theory. In particular, it builds upon and refines Janet Marstine’s argument that university art galleries can lead in the development of the Post-Museum and questions whether Marstine’s theories can apply to the New Zealand context.</p>

Worlds Apart: Indigenous Re-engagement with Museum-held Heritage: A New Zealand - United Kingdom Case Study

<p>For several decades a decolonised museology has been manifest within Western museum practice through, among other things, enhanced indigenous engagement with museums. Even so, indigenous communities still fail to access their cultural heritage housed in museums at distance, when they have no institutional affiliation which can facilitate contact and communication, and because they are often disadvantaged in terms of resources. Furthermore, the museums’ lack of online collection databases, coupled with other practical constraints centred on resources and priorities, inhibits their ability to work with indigenous communities. In post-colonial settler nations the democratisation of museum practice for indigenous collections has been one outcome of the political presence of indigenous peoples and the assertion of indigenous autonomy, as well as the proximity of indigenous communities and museums. Innovative practice has therefore differed from elsewhere as a result of the need for negotiated relationships with indigenous communities and recognition of indigenous authority. This has been the case in New Zealand where Māori epistemological frameworks are acknowledged and there is effective Māori participation within museums. This research addresses this issue of access to indigenous collections when they are held in other countries, and a corresponding gap in the literature, by exploring ways in which Māori communities can negotiate ongoing relationships with museums that hold collections of their ancestral heritage, when they are geographically remote from these collections. Using an analytical framework drawn from assemblage theory, the research has focussed on a detailed, situated New Zealand-United Kingdom case study, and is the first contextualised study over time of a heritage assemblage, comprising a collector and his collection, an indigenous community and a museum. A kaupapa Māori research methodology has enabled the acknowledgement and incorporation of Māori values into the research strategy which is an interdisciplinary approach centred on museum studies, but drawing also on related fields, indigenous knowledge systems and my own professional experience as a curator in a regional museum. The research has also employed methods such as archival research, interviews and hui/focus groups. Through the disassembly of this research assemblage I was able to document the impact of different value systems and epistemologies on access to heritage objects and clarify their meanings for specific communities. A number of entities emerged from this disassembly which were temporally and spatially contingent, and manifest as power, agency and values. Analysis of these entities has revealed their potential for beginning the task of decolonising the museum when power and authority are negotiated within this network and our difficult histories are acknowledged and communicated. Analysis of the data gathered has also reinforced the idea that taonga objectify social relationships in which they are transformed from passive ‘things’ to active actor-entities and as such are capable of enacting relationships prompting contemporary responses from human actors. The research findings show the emergence of an indigenous engagement praxis in which actor-networks are ongoing and reassembling, a process which is visible in contemporary indigenous people’s re-engagement with their museum-held heritage at distance. This praxis combines a range of developments in contemporary museum practice for community engagement which have proved effective in New Zealand and other settler colonies and has potential application elsewhere for community members, academics and museological practitioners when forging relationships based around indigenous cultural heritage collections when distance is a factor.</p>

Worlds Apart: Indigenous Re-engagement with Museum-held Heritage: A New Zealand - United Kingdom Case Study

<p>For several decades a decolonised museology has been manifest within Western museum practice through, among other things, enhanced indigenous engagement with museums. Even so, indigenous communities still fail to access their cultural heritage housed in museums at distance, when they have no institutional affiliation which can facilitate contact and communication, and because they are often disadvantaged in terms of resources. Furthermore, the museums’ lack of online collection databases, coupled with other practical constraints centred on resources and priorities, inhibits their ability to work with indigenous communities. In post-colonial settler nations the democratisation of museum practice for indigenous collections has been one outcome of the political presence of indigenous peoples and the assertion of indigenous autonomy, as well as the proximity of indigenous communities and museums. Innovative practice has therefore differed from elsewhere as a result of the need for negotiated relationships with indigenous communities and recognition of indigenous authority. This has been the case in New Zealand where Māori epistemological frameworks are acknowledged and there is effective Māori participation within museums. This research addresses this issue of access to indigenous collections when they are held in other countries, and a corresponding gap in the literature, by exploring ways in which Māori communities can negotiate ongoing relationships with museums that hold collections of their ancestral heritage, when they are geographically remote from these collections. Using an analytical framework drawn from assemblage theory, the research has focussed on a detailed, situated New Zealand-United Kingdom case study, and is the first contextualised study over time of a heritage assemblage, comprising a collector and his collection, an indigenous community and a museum. A kaupapa Māori research methodology has enabled the acknowledgement and incorporation of Māori values into the research strategy which is an interdisciplinary approach centred on museum studies, but drawing also on related fields, indigenous knowledge systems and my own professional experience as a curator in a regional museum. The research has also employed methods such as archival research, interviews and hui/focus groups. Through the disassembly of this research assemblage I was able to document the impact of different value systems and epistemologies on access to heritage objects and clarify their meanings for specific communities. A number of entities emerged from this disassembly which were temporally and spatially contingent, and manifest as power, agency and values. Analysis of these entities has revealed their potential for beginning the task of decolonising the museum when power and authority are negotiated within this network and our difficult histories are acknowledged and communicated. Analysis of the data gathered has also reinforced the idea that taonga objectify social relationships in which they are transformed from passive ‘things’ to active actor-entities and as such are capable of enacting relationships prompting contemporary responses from human actors. The research findings show the emergence of an indigenous engagement praxis in which actor-networks are ongoing and reassembling, a process which is visible in contemporary indigenous people’s re-engagement with their museum-held heritage at distance. This praxis combines a range of developments in contemporary museum practice for community engagement which have proved effective in New Zealand and other settler colonies and has potential application elsewhere for community members, academics and museological practitioners when forging relationships based around indigenous cultural heritage collections when distance is a factor.</p>

Never let me go? A case study of deaccessioning and disposal undertaken at Museum of Wellington City and Sea

<p>In the current economic climate museums are increasingly being asked to do more with less. For museums that hold collections, this poses a unique challenge. With the cost of collections being relentlessly accumulative, questions are being raised about the long term financial sustainability of current collecting practices. Deaccessioning is being suggested as a way in which museums can improve the quality of their collection without increasing its size. Yet the literature on deaccessioning suggests that the process is fraught with ethical and practical difficulties. By highlighting the negatives aspects of the process, writing in museum studies and practice does little to explore how deaccessioning might be used to achieve positive outcomes. This research addresses this gap by asking whether deaccessioning is a positive tool that, if used appropriately, can assist a museum in improving the quality and manageability of their collection through systematic planning. To understand how and why a museum may permanently remove objects from their collection, the study focuses on one New Zealand museum’s response to the challenge of redeveloping a collection through the process of deaccessioning and disposal. The Museum of Wellington City and Sea’s deaccessioning process is analysed through documentary research and interviews with Museum staff. The interviews offer an understanding of the thought processes and motivations involved in selecting objects to be deaccessioned. The data collected reveals both the challenging aspects of the process but also offers insights into how these aspects can be mitigated or resolved. The conclusions presented in this dissertation suggest that deaccessioning is an integral part of current museum practice that can be used positively to actively shape and refine a museum collection. I argue that some of the beneficial outcomes of the process include greater understanding of collections, improved knowledge and context, resolution of historical collecting problems, strategic relationships built with other museums and improvement in how objects are stored and utilised. More importantly deaccessioning allows museums to determine the character and content of their collections. In order for this to be achieved, I recommend that museums adopt a rational approach to reviewing their collections that is multi-disciplinary, transparent and acknowledges how their collection is used in the achievement of their institution’s mission.</p>