ABSTRACT
Chapter 1, Maternal Voices looks at the museum voice. The author asks what kinds of narratives might best express the inner worlds of mothers? In an analysis of the maternal voices within exhibition, WW1: Love and Sorrow (Museums Victoria) the author locates tensions between the maternal voices within the exhibition narrative and the “voice” of the museum as institution. The author then goes on to look at oral histories about motherhood in museum collections (or “maternographies”) and explores how these can help us understand the inner worlds of mothers (or maternal subjectivity). Then, in her analysis of exhibition, Inside: Life Inside Children's Institutions (National Museum Australia, 2013–2014), the author asks what curatorial design considerations are important when displaying oral histories about mothering?
