Inside the Museum: Curating between hope and despair: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
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Abstract
The reception of the core exception of POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which opened in Warsaw on 28 October 2014, is the focus of this essay. While eschewing a master narrative, the exhibition is guided by metahistorical principles and a distinctive approach to mode of narration. Both have proven controversial as evidenced by answers to the following questions. What is the difference between a history of Polish Jews and a history of Polish Jewish relations? What is the most important period in the history of Polish Jews? Can visitors be trusted to draw the proper conclusions from a multi-voiced narrative based largely on quotations from primary sources, supported with scholarly commentary? Is a museum whose core exhibition features relatively few original objects a museum? What is the role of intangible heritage in such a museum?
Topics
Main Topic: Culture and Heritage Jewish Museums Memory Holocaust Commemoration Holocaust Education Holocaust Memorials Jewish - Non - Jewish Relations
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Geographic Coverage
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Volume/Issue
45(2-3)
Page Number
215-235
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DOI
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Link to article (paywalled), Inside the Museum: Curating between hope and despair: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Bibliographic Information
Inside the Museum: Curating between hope and despair: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. 2015: 215-235. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.1080/13501674.2015.1070636
