ABSTRACT
The chapter seeks to marshal the linked issues of participation and democracy in order to explore the performative aspects of national museums. It focuses on examples drawn from three northern European countries: the aforementioned "Nasjonalgalleriet" in Oslo; "Moderna Museet" and National museum in the Swedish capital, Stockholm; and London's Tate Modern and Tate Britain. The debate concerning "Nasjonalgalleriet" was so heated precisely because the museum is elevated as a model determining how people can and should perceive the nation. The street demonstration was a literal manifestation of Kirshenblatt - Gimblett's argument: as the protestors encircled Norway's national museum they formed a chain 'outside its walls'. Recent events in Norway confirm that national museums are in fact contested places in a state of constant change. Detecting signs of participation is relatively easy the squeals of children in Modellen, the splattering of paint at Zon Moderna, the mechanical clicks and whirls as paintings descend in the Pontus Hulten Study Gallery.
