Museums and the Act of Witnessing

Ross J. Wilson

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000463293
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Art
• Categoría: Études des musées

Museums and the Act of Witnessing examines how representations of traumatic histories and the legacies of the twentieth century in museums and heritage sites across the world shape political, social and cultural identities.

Drawing on an interdisciplinary analysis of a variety of museum exhibitions around the globe, the book demonstrates how the narrative of 'witnessing' has shaped representation of war, genocide, repression and violence. Revealing that this form of presentation is inherently Western in its origins and nature, Wilson goes on to argue that witnessing the past is to colonise the future, as we project a certain view of the events of the past onto the present. Detailing the character, content and meanings of representation that focus on the traumatic events of the twentieth century, the book demonstrates the way in which visitors are cast as 'witnesses' and questions what the true purpose of witnessing really is.

Museums and the Act of Witnessing draws attention to the fact that we have inherited a distinct, and often limited, mode of seeing the past and considers how we can more effectively engage with the past in the present. The book will be of interest to academics and students engaged in the study of museums, history, sociology, conflict, politics and memory.

1

Introduction

DOI: 10.4324/9781003100065-1

Museums are the places where we bear witness. These are sites where we are called forth to witness the past and are called upon to testify to its significance. This book is a study of how we are asked to be witnesses to the trauma of the past within museums and heritage sites across the world. This work assesses what takes place within these spaces and how people are asked to become witnesses to a past they may not have directly experienced but which they are required to acknowledge and to attest to its importance (Peters 2001; Simon 2014). To serve as a witness in this manner is to take on the burden of recalling the trauma of our modern history and observe its impact upon society. It is within the institutions that have been created and the locations of remembrance that the role of witnessing within global society is so vividly exposed. These sites have been formed as a means of ensuring that our history is ‘present’ for individuals and communities. To be a witness here is to participate in traditions of knowledge and culture that compel us to remember and recognise the past (after Felman and Laub 1992). However, the way we are called forth to serve as witnesses varies between histories, institutions and locations. Our testimonies might be sought to affirm the events of the past and their significance for contemporary society, but our accounts could be secondary concerns in comparison to asserting the importance of these histories. We are asked to witness in these places, but the way in which we witness differs, which shapes how and why we testify. This book examines the cultural significance of witnesses in societies and how institutions and sites apply these perspectives to assert the importance of the past. The various ways in which witnesses are constructed will be analysed to detail how exhibitions and displays structure the perspectives of visitors to create relationships to the past (after Meyers and Goodman 2012). Through this assessment, we can assert how specific acts of witnessing can serve as a radical agenda within museum and heritage studies.

This book has been written in response to the crises that are currently enveloping our world as we deal with political, social and environmental pressures. In an era of turmoil, where we still live in the long shadow cast by a traumatic past, the witness must be the most important figure. It is the individual who is committed to observe and testify to what has happened, who can speak to others about events that have transpired, who will be able to preserve the rights of others and act responsibly in the world. The figure of the witness has received relatively little attention within scholarly debates across disciplines. Occasionally, mention of the witness and the act of witnessing may feature within discussion of history, philosophy or literature as we are engaged with how trauma or tragedy are experienced (Frosh 2006). However, we do not speak of witnessing as an action undertaken by museum visitors. We can talk of testimonies and witnesses featuring within exhibitions as we watch, listen and engage with the voices of the past, but we have not engaged in the possibilities of what happens when we consider museum audiences to be witnesses to the past and present. This book has been formed by conversations over a decade, but it has been developed during a period of two years from 2019 to 2021 where the importance of the actions of citizens has been highlighted as paramount. As we grapple with the impact of a pandemic, the rise of popularism fed by disingenuous reports, exploitation of the Earth’s resources as the endemic inequality that persists based on ethnicity, class and gender identity, we need witnesses. We need to be called upon to act as witnesses, to observe the conditions and experiences of others and to testify to their significance, to be responsible for the spaces that we share and by being accountable. Museums must be part of this process. This book has been created as an exploration of what it means to be a witness in an era when the witness will be critical in ensuring the sustainability of our communities and our societies.

We bear witness to the past. Every generation acts as observers to what has occurred in their lifetime and to the events of previous eras (Oliver 2001; Vivian 2017). This is a function of individual experience and social norms. Humans utilise their knowledge of the past to navigate their world and to understand their experiences. Our evolutionary adaptation has made us predisposed to rely upon this ability to guide decision-making processes in a complex world. For societies, where groups of people forge connections and associations in a myriad of ways, we place emphasis on the recollection of the past as a means of performing identity, regulating behaviour and constructing ideologies (after Maerker et al. 2018). To witness is to be an individual and to be a member of society. However, how we witness, what we witness and what we are called forth to testify and bear the burden of memory of is not completed in the circumstances of our own choosing. The act of witnessing is entwined with the operation of power as we are compelled to witness for the purposes of others. What would appear to be a capacity that we can perform by virtue of our own will is usually a duty which we are compelled to enact. We are called to bear witness, but we are frequently excluded from the decisions that shape what we witness. This is particularly true of the events that are sanctioned by the state as being significant for the purposes of culture, politics and tradition. Whether through a consequence of repetition across the generations or by some concept of a shared national narrative, we are compelled to be still, stand, watch and listen (Lehrer and Milton 2001). These events are marked because they are points of trauma. They are the moments of loss and tragedy which have marked a society and subsequent generations. The witnessing of these moments is designed to remind individuals and societies who they are, their perspective, their duties and their responsibilities. We are asked to bear witness and to acknowledge these events so we may construct our future around them (Simon 2014; Sodaro 2018). As our modern history is punctuated by conflict, enslavement, genocide, repression, disasters and violence, we have plenty of traumatic events to witness. It is the act of recognition that is central in our construction of our personal and collective identities, it is integral to the operation of society and it is the means by which we can resist hegemonic systems of control (after Smith 2006). What we witness requires us to be responsible not for the past but for the present. We can be held to account for our testimonies and we can be asked whether our role as witnesses is genuine.

The role of the ‘witness’, one who observes and acknowledges, within religious, legal and cultural history across cultures is extensive but also a feature we hold in common as the purpose of an individual who can recount important events is well established within societies across the world (Nance 2019). The witness is a figure that appears in numerous guises as someone who will carry forward what they have experienced and tell their knowledge to others. Indeed, notions of witnessing, whether through epistemic knowledge or philosophical traditions, have placed those who observe and speak of their experiences on a pedestal as bearers of ‘truth’. It is this concept which has ensured that witnessing, ‘seeing something for yourself’ has become so ingrained in concepts of pedagogy. To instruct children, they must witness the objective knowledge that society has to impart upon them. As part of any teaching, we are required to be present, to observe and to use these lessons as veracities which we can hold and carry forward. As an adult, we place the role of witnessing in an even higher regard as it forms the bedrock of our institutions. We are repeatedly called upon to witness the events and activities around us to confirm probity and to act as a ‘good’ citizen. Witnessing is at the centre of our civic role. To ensure the continuation of how social structures, to preserve what we hold to be the fundamental tenets of our society, we must serve as witnesses. Despite the pervasive nature of witnessing, its function within secular and religious structures, it remains a concept that is obscured. Perhaps this is because of its significance as we might be unwilling to deconstruct such an integral part of personal and collective identity. Nevertheless, the role of the witness must be questioned because of its structural importance and due to the importance of the events we are increasingly called upon to acknowledge. We live in the shadow of the traumatic events of the twentieth century whilst the twenty-first century has brought terrorism, natural disasters, racial injustice, environmental catastrophe and a global pandemic as defining points in our recent history. In this context, our presence as witnesses is desperately required. We are needed to record, observe and to testify as to the events of the past so we can make amends and redress.

This study explores the notion of witnessing within contemporary society, it examines the values and ideas we associate with this way of understanding the world and it then uses this framework to analyse how museums and heritage sites narrate the trauma of our recent past (after Logan and Reeves 2009). This book is global in scale, it uses examples of institutions that represent the traumatic histories of the modern era from around the world. The importance of this broad survey is to provide a comparative analysis of how we are called to witness the past in different contexts and for different events. Museums and heritage sites are broadly defined in this study as places where histories are communicated to the public. As such, this investigation deals with a varied range of organisations which can differ greatly in form. From the online museums that serve communities and reflect dissident histories, private and charitable organisations that hope to promote and engage audiences with particular histories and perspectives in exhibitions and displays, to state institutions that reiterate national narratives of sacrifice and endeavour during conflict, this is a study that uses examples from nations with political systems that enable aspects of freedom of thought and expression to those that might restrict press and personal liberties. The array of institutions and contexts are chosen to examine how witnessing is performed in different contexts and within different cultures for very different audiences. This will provide museums of all types with points of reflection on how witnessing can be encouraged and facilitated by the institution but how it also forms part of a public response to a museum.

To analyse these concepts and representations, this study explores the meaning and the application of the term ‘witness’ across global society. This is done to place the study within a cultural context; the case studies used within this analysis are taken from a range of different countries where history, language, politics and religion might appear to render comparisons illogical. However, what emerges from this study is the emphasis placed on the value of the ‘witness’ for societies across the world. There is a common thread which connects our communities despite our differences: this is the witness (after Oliver 2001). To be able to explore these issues in greater detail, this study has highlighted four types of witnessing that are used within a legal, religious and educational context. These practices are reflected in the way museums and heritage sites engage visitors with the traumatic events of modern history:

• Eyewitness: being present and seeing things for ourselves
• Expert witnesses: knowing and understanding the impact of the past
• Character witness: assessing and analysing testimony and experience
• Lay witnesses: thinking and feeling the effect of the past

Whilst the legal terminology is used within these categories, the intersection of culture, society and politics entails that these terms are present in a range of contexts. Through this framework, this study will examine the places where the traumatic history of the modern era is represented to wider society. These locations where museums use exhibitions, memorials, monuments to create sites of commemoration, are the tools we have to observe the way in which we are asked to address the legacy of the past and reflect upon its impact on us. These categories translate into modes of learning as looking, listening, thinking and feeling (after Witcomb 2013). It is through these ways of engaging with the past that we construct our present and establish a sense of identity and place.

This activity specifically takes place within sites that represent the traumatic histories of the modern era (Sodaro 2018). These locales are important as we live on the shadow of the wars, genocides, totalitarianism, repression and atrocities of the recent past. These are events that have shaped us in a multitude of ways. The twenty-first century struggles to escape the pull of the preceding century as we find ourselves with constant references to the history (after Wilson 2016). Whether through culture, politics, economics or society, we are surrounded by the trauma of suffering, injustice and murder. As these events recede into the past and away from ‘living memory’ we are increasingly called upon to remember and to ensure that we do not return to the conditions that presaged such brutality and terror. This has placed great emphasis on the museums and heritage sites that tell the stories of these events (after Macdonald 2009). Over the last two decades, these institutions and organisations have sought to develop strategies to engage visitors and wider society with the ‘lessons of the past’. Specific networks have been developed to foster collaboration and shared approaches in which the conscience of the public can be pricked (see Janes and Sandell 2019). Other sites seek alternative ways of ensuring that the knowledge of these traumatic events can be carried forward into the present by focusing on the acquisition of information and awareness. There is a plethora of ways in which we are asked to witness the trauma of the past but ver...