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Different Materialities – Different Authenticities? Considerations on Watercraft Exhibited in Museums

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2024

Tobias Schade Open the ORCID record for Tobias Schade [Opens in a new window]
Tobias Schade*
Affiliation:
SFB 1070 ResourceCultures, University of Tübingen, DE, Tubingen, Germany
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Museums are often considered to be spaces of the authentic, where the real, unique and original is exhibited, and where the accurate past is conveyed. By means of two watercraft, Nydam Boat and Kon-Tiki, it is illustrated how their materiality and authenticity are shaped by processes of musealization, reconstruction, restoration and ways of narrating the past and staging exhibits. While their substances remain present and perceptible, they are also subjected to material changes and changing perceptions over time. From a cultural constructivist perspective, it is illustrated how museum exhibits may be perceived as authentic and how this is related to their materials.

Keywords

Exhibition studiesresourcesNydam BoatKon-Tikimuseum objects
Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , February 2024 , pp. 4 - 27
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Cultural Property Society

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References

Interview transcripts

Biehl 2018: Martin Biehl, (former) director of the museum, Kon-Tiki Museum, 12 April 2018, Oslo.Google Scholar
Solsvik 2018: Reidar Solsvik, curator, Kon-Tiki Museum, 9 April 2018, Oslo.Google Scholar
Bleile 2020: Ralf Bleile, museum management, Archaeological Museum Schloss Gottorf, 5 March 2020, Schleswig.Google Scholar

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