ABSTRACT
Recent research into the production and consumption of meanings in museums (Newman and McLean 2006; O’Neill 2006) suggests that these institutions contribute significantly to the construction of personal and shared identities. In parallel with these sociological studies, historians have taken an increasing interest in the way individuals and communities remember the past, how certain memories are used by groups to articulate a collective identity (Brown 2005: 127), and how such identities are embedded in a sense of place (Schama 1996). While many museums work collaboratively with community groups (Wallace 1986: 155; Crooke 2005), some local histories in professionally run museums are authored by curators, or an exhibition team, who draw on academic histories to construct their narratives but who pay little regard to the way such histories are used by local audiences. This chapter suggests that, by giving more attention to the historiographic needs and historical perceptions of these audiences, museums might more effectively articulate community identities and a sense of place.
