Introduction

Museums have emerged as storehouses for authentic and real objects. The former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York explained in an interview the role of the museum in contemporary society in precisely these terms: ‘Museums provide places of relaxation and inspiration. The idea of authenticity and original artefacts in museums is also part of popular culture. Museums have been presented as places of rest and contemplation, as places for withdrawal from the strains of modern (city) life in the Western world. On closer inspection, what catches the eye are all the ‘inauthentic’ objects in museums, the excess of copies. Museums have high stakes in copy production and consumption. New technologies for reproduction and documentation have been welcomed and celebrated in museum circles from the very outset. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.