Living Museums Bring Static History to Life
July 27, 2012
These women are among dozens of characters who depict the inhabitants of Colonial Williamsburg, interacting with visitors as they do so. (Carol M. Highsmith)
This is the time of year when thousands of tourists descend upon Washington, D.C., to see the capital’s great monuments and museums, including the National Gallery of Art and an array of Smithsonian museums.
These are what might be called “static” museums. You walk in, see the pioneer Wright Brothers plane hanging from the ceiling or a great Vermeer painting, or a display of American Indian artifacts.
You look at them, maybe read a placard, or perhaps wear a headset in which a narrator gives you more background about what you’re seeing.
But in today’s world of spectacular theme parks and dazzling electronic diversions, curators at smaller museums around the country found that busy travelers - especially those with kids - were not coming the way they used to.
Looking at pictures of, or by, long-dead artists or cultural pioneers just wasn’t entertaining.
They needed to make history and art come to life, to somehow transport visitors to time periods or experiences being displayed.
So a whole new kind of museum was born - the “living history” museum.
Places such as Williamsburg, Virginia, the first and perhaps most successful of these models. It’s a completely re-created village from the days when the town was the colonial capital of Virginia.
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