Theatricalization in the Cultural History Museum

Abstract

The article examines theatricalization and visitor participation as curatorial strategies in new museological practices. It asks: How are theatrical and participatory elements put into use and what is their effect on the visitor experience in terms of meaning-making. Based on a first-person phenomenological description, the analysis centres on the exhibition An Army of Concrete in The Tirpitz Museum on the west coast of Denmark. Looking at the processes of theatricality in the exhibition, it is argued that meaning-making ultimately relies on visitor participation and is produced self-reflexively in the engagement with the immersive environments, theaudio-narratives and the displayed objects.