The Material Cultures in Public Engagement volume seeks to document and explore the significant change in the relationship of Museums with collections of the Ancient World and their audiences. The volume establishes a new approach to the study of public archaeology as a discipline and application within Museums, by bringing together the voices and experiences of museum professionals (curators, conservators and researchers) and public engagement professionals. Chapters in this volume present clear case-studies of the variety and diversity of public engagement projects conducted currently within European Museums and beyond. While the majority of case studies presented in the volume’s chapters stem from European Museum programs, plenty of reference is made on parallel strategies and successful public engagement programs outside Europe (e.g. recently implemented projects by the Pointe-à-Callière Museum, Montreal, the Dallas and Cleveland Museums of Art, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, to name but a few). Case studies within the volume provide important insights as to why public engagement programs have developed in different ways between Europe and the Americas, as well as whether these differences may stem from different curatorial practices. Finally, a number of studies included in this volume point out that methodologies and practices of public engagement applied currently by Museums in or outside Europe, are rarely the subject of theoretical and methodological scrutiny, unlike other fields of study of the Ancient World or other social sciences. In summary, chapters within the book promise to contribute to the advancement of public engagement with the Ancient World, as well as to the advancement of public archaeology itself as a practice.
Theoretical groundings and Challenges
Introduction: Public Archaeology efforts within Museum spaces, Dr Anastasia
Christophilopoulou & Dr Lucilla Burn.
Public engagement in Museums and archaeological sites: a survey of case studies
2. Forty years in engaging the public with the restoration of the Acropolis of Athens,
Eleni Eleftheriou, Ioanna Lembidaki & Eirini Kaimara.
3. The New Concept of the Berlin Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte – Archaeology
in a historically-engaged Museum building, Dr Marion Bertram.
4. ‘Isn’t there an App for that yet?’ Evaluating the ‘Wall of Cambridge’ iPad App as a
means of Public Engagement, Dr Jody Joy & Sarah-Jane Harknett.
5. Music as a means of opening up archaeological museums to new audiences, Ariadne
Klonizaki.
6. Experiment in temporary exhibition, Dr Nicholas James.
7. Public engagement with the Ancient World in Greece: limitations and prospects, Dr
Nena Galanidou.
Voices from the public: audience and community driven engagement within
Museums.
8. Rendering the public visible in curatorial practice, Dr Effrosyni Nomikou.
9. Steps towards the Learning Museum: The National Archaeological Museum "Inside
Out", Dr Maria Lagogianni-Georgakarakos, Dr Despina Kalessopoulou, Panagiota
Koutsiana and Dr Maria Selekou.
10. Sensory approaches to material culture: theories and reality of the imagined
sensorially-engaged Museum: Dr Anastasia Christophilopoulou
11. Casting Light on the Ancient World: Education in the Museum of Classical
Archaeology, Cambridge, Jennie Thornber.
Conclusions:
12. Towards a meaningful discourse between Archaeology, Museums and Public
Engagement, Professor Robin Osborne
