ABSTRACT

A museum exhibition is most often thought of as a conclusion-an encapsulation of a subject, neatly and attractively presented and brought to a close, designed so that visitors can comfortably access and absorb a topic. In this chapter, we instead consider the generative potential of exhibitions. We examine the idea that an exhibition can be an active gathering, a process that creates collections rather than just draws from them. If curators and others work closely and collaboratively with individuals and communities who have a personal stake in the history being presented in exhibitions, then memories, stories, fragments and even absences-not just objectsbecome essential elements of both collections and exhibitions. The potential returns of this approach are signifi cant, although it also challenges the way that museums and curators have traditionally worked. This is particularly true of exhibitions and collections that represent the troubling history of psychiatry and the experience of being institutionalised, something that those who have never experienced mental illness themselves can only ever partially comprehend. Exhibiting personally remembered versions of the past and working together with people who have experienced multiple traumas and distress is complex, and comes with heightened responsibilities. As Gaynor Kavanagh asserts, ‘when museums actively engage with the personal, what is discovered is that the work is neither straightforward nor anticipated-just like memory itself. Working with memories implicitly means working with emotions . . . It is not easy . . . Such work tests the limitations as well as the potential of museum professionals and museum practice . . . This is never more true than when memories of trauma are stimulated. When this occurs nothing less than a serious reassessment, and, if need be, realignment of museum work is required.’1