Religious displays: an observational study with a focus on the horniman museum

ABSTRACT

Religious displays can help foster cross-cultural understanding. However, the extent to which they can achieve this aim is wholly dependent on the museum's displays, community involvement, background fieldwork research, and the educational and public programming provided around the exhibition, among other factors. Well-crafted displays can encourage greater understanding of a community's religious practices, customs, and cultural differences. If crafted badly, however, such displays can have either no effect or, indeed, the reverse, and actually aid in cementing prejudices. The extent to which either of these extremes applies depends on the factors listed above. This article is an observational study of how best to display objects of religious significance in the museum context, based on a detailed analysis of the key factors which contribute to a successful display. It concentrates on the Horniman Museum in south London, critically analyzing its three permanent exhibition galleries: the African Worlds Gallery, the Centenary Gallery, and the Music Gallery. In so doing, it also makes reference to other relevant religious displays. More fundamentally, this study sets out to explore the different forms of displaying religious objects within museums and consider which of these are the most successful in helping visitors understand the significance of those objects, as well as the people and communities from which they originate.