ABSTRACT
Museums and other exhibiting institutions offer narratives, usually constructed by,
with and around objects. The same object or series of objects can be used to support
a range of different narratives, but any one institution is able to present only a limited
number of interpretations at any one time.1 Museums (or rather the decision-makers
within those institutions) have to choose their narratives and they make those choices
in the context of institutional, professional, financial and personal factors, all of which
relate to the broader social, cultural, political and economic climate.
