Introduction

This final part of the book moves on neatly from the political contexts introduced by Warrior's chapter at the end of Part III, to present a range of perspectives on challenges or contestations in museum representations and, ultimately, in the notion of ‘heritage’ itself. While many visitors may not enter museums expecting to be made to feel uncomfortable, the range of experiences and traditions within any audience may mean that the museum represents a story different to the one they know, and this can lead to cognitive and interpretive conflict. Since the rise of the ‘New Museology’, writers on museums have increasingly recognised the need for a sharing of power between the authority of the museum and its communities; the authors in this part of the book each in their own ways reflect on how this democratisation can be materially manifested. The section ends with a reflective critique of the very notion that ‘heritage’ is in some way ‘good for us’.