Museum-Based Research: Museological, Institutional, Curatorial and Epistemological Challenges

• Main Author: Sigfúsdóttir, Ólöf Gerður
• Other Authors: Sigurjón Baldur Hafsteinsson, Félagsfræði-, mannfræði- og þjóðfræðideild (HÍ), Faculty of Sociology, Anthropology and Folkloristics (UI), Félagsvísindasvið (HÍ), School of Social Sciences (UI), Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Iceland, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Sociology, Anthropology and Folkloristics 2022
• Subjects: Safnafræði; Þekkingarfræði; Doktorsritgerðir; Söfn; Rannsóknir; Museums; Knowledge Production; Epistemology; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/3724

Unlike collecting, preserving, educating and displaying, research is rarely thought of as a core activity in museums. However, it is one of the formal requirements museums must fulfil according to international standards. It is also the most ambiguous and challenging to undertake. Many museums report being unable to conduct research due to lack of manpower, time and funding, while others see research as inherent in everything they do. These two extremes create a climate of confusion around research activity, which, in turn, leads to ambivalence or uncertainty as to what counts as research in the museum workplace. This doctoral dissertation speaks to this ambivalence by exploring how knowledge is produced, contested and disseminated in museums, with the aim of bringing clarity to the discourse. The dissertation is based on four journal articles that engage with the problem of museum-based research from different angles. Central to the study is the concept of ‘research’ as it migrates between the two domains of academia and museums. The study draws on literature from the fields of museology, curatorial studies, artistic research and, to some extent, anthropology, as it seeks to illustrate a multifaceted picture of research in the museum context. It unfolds through the lens of four distinct but overlapping perspectives: the museological, the institutional, the curatorial and the epistemological. Each perspective reflects a particular set of research questions, source materials and methodologies, including two case studies conducted in Iceland. The museological perspective explores how the discipline of museology engages with the topic of museum-based research at a theoretical level. The institutional perspective examines research from within museums, including the administrative and legal structures that frame research as a professional museum activity. The curatorial perspective encompasses research from the author’s first-hand experience with creating an exhibition and the curatorial process leading up to it. ...