ABSTRACT
The Museum of Everyday Life is a theoretical project and an actual museum in rural Vermont. This article first provides a poetic rendering of the philosophical underpinnings of the project, exploring the special powers of everyday objects to respond to the contingencies of the body, to remember human activity, to record personal histories, and to chronicle the realities of ordinary people. The article then, in a second section, details the ways in which the museum’s Collections, Philosophy, and Performance departments work to re-imagine the role of museums via intense focus on the quotidian. Examining strategies that undermine the traditional curatorial voice of authority, the article explores how the museum is able to reposition the visitor at the center, inviting him/her to re-interpret and overlay new narratives onto and into the objects on display. It also explores the ways that the architecture, setting, and spatial configurations of the museum create an in-between space of possibility, and encourage affective engagement in those who visit. Finally, the article articulates the vision of “grassroots museums” as meaningful, ever-shifting public spaces that can play a central role in nourishing the creative life of communities.
