ABSTRACT
The past decades have witnessed a rich debate on museum reformation, including their structures and priorities along with increasing visitor numbers. In the same period, it has been found that research in museums has lost ground, and the traditional mandates of the museum – collecting, researching and displaying material culture – seem to have disintegrated. Facing a sort of identity crisis, museums are now being called upon to respond to the challenge. A promising way out, suggested by a wide range of scholars, points to practices of exhibition making as research, which embrace the epistemological value of engaging with objects and collections. Following up on these studies, in this chapter I suggest a method for museum research, slightly different from the academic model. In this regard, the concept of understanding as an alternative to knowledge (Arnold, 2016) seems fruitful. The method aims to strengthen museum work through an experimental exhibition practice where research functions as an integrative force. The concept of the ancient “thing” (meaning a gathering) is central in the method. The proposed method will allow museums to establish a distinct position in doing research and producing a unique kind of knowledge/understanding stemming from the amalgamating process that combines academic and artistic research in a multi-disciplinary encounter with objects, texts and space and people.
