Museum Visitors as Witnesses of Climate Change*
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: How are visitors witnessing climate change in museums, and how is it helping them become more aware and likely to engage in climate action? To start answering these questions, this article builds on research in memory studies and its intersection with museum studies. I first explore how the concept of witnessing evolves in the time of the climate crisis, then turn to how this informs museum exhibitions. At this time, new types of displays are being used in museums of natural history that showcase the climate crisis to visitors and warrant further research. In the second part of the article, the Climate House at the Oslo Natural History Museum is used as a case study to inquire about forms of witnessing in exhibitions. In this museum, visitors are introduced to deep time and presented with possible futures, offering an experience defined in this article as mediated and anticipatory witnessing.
Source: Memory studies review.
Author: Sophie Decroupet
Language: English
Subfield: Museology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4417419198
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