Museological Developments and Narratives of the Clearances

The Museums Association adopted the following definition of a museum in 1984. A museum is: “an institution which collects, documents, preserves, exhibits and interprets material evidence and associated information for the public benefit.” Now, in many a heritage centre, finding “material evidence” – a “real object” – is like a game of hunt the thimble. But does this necessarily lessen the experience? And what is “material evidence”? (Heighton 1987: 61).