Exhibition planning meeting in Los Angeles, Go For Broke National Education Center. Photo credit: Chris Brusatte and Go For Broke National Education Center
Historical interpretation has come a long way from the days when museums would sequester African and Asian cultures in natural history exhibit halls. In the past few decades, interpretive exhibits and programs have shifted to become more sensitive to marginalized peoples, groups, and cultures. But is it enough? Have interpretive sites fully realized a vision of equality, tolerance, and full inclusion? Or are we still just scratching the surface?
Too often, interpretation is still directed entirely by curators, interpreters, and institutions who are not themselves connected with the group being interpreted. Those in authority often fail to include representatives of under-represented and under-served groups in decision making. The resulting interpretation excludes the thoughts and viewpoints of members of the marginalized group, and it fails to be relevant or captivating to visitors who are part of that group. It also fails to give an accurate representation to all visitors and simply reinforces the particular worldviews of the majority culture.
To address this problem, museums and historic sites must include members of marginalized groups in our planning and decision-making at all stages. The only true path to culturally sensitive interpretation is through inclusion and co-curation. In other words, interpreters need to actively seek out help from the various groups whose history they are interpreting, and even give up a large degree of authorship to the groups themselves. Michael Frisch, Nina Simon, and many others have been saying this for some time now. Crucial decision-making authority must be shared to decide what content is included, how it is displayed, and even what the overall themes should be.
Case Study—Go For Broke National Education Center’s New Defining Courage Exhibition
In May 2016, Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC) in Los Angeles opened its first ever permanent exhibition, The Defining Courage Experience. GFBNEC is a veterans nonprofit organization honoring the Japanese American soldiers who fought for their country in World War II. In 2014, I was brought on to lead the creation of the exhibition, which was meant to be an inclusive and co-curated project directed by dozens of Japanese American groups and hundreds of people throughout the country. From our earliest planning stages up through opening day, we gave Japanese American World War II veterans and their families ongoing opportunities to decide upon the exhibition’s content, its methods of display, and its major themes. The result was a community-built exhibition directed by Japanese American veterans, scholars, educators, and students throughout the country.
I myself am not Japanese American or a military veteran. When I first began leading the project, I was afraid that I could not accurately represent the veterans’ stories. On my own I could never have told their story in a factual, captivating, and sufficiently relevant manner. I needed to give the veterans and their families the authority to make decisions on content, select preferred display methods, and inform me of their desired themes. I traveled to seven different communities, from Honolulu to Washington D.C., meeting with local Japanese American veterans, family members, educators, and students. I convened focus groups of Los Angeles-area stakeholders. I presented—and re-presented, and re-presented again—plans as the exhibition moved forward. I listened to the veterans themselves and let them make many of the important decisions regarding the interpretive plan.
At times it was difficult to work with so many contributors, simply because there were so many great ideas to include—so many stories, so many themes. We managed this process in two ways. First, after the planning meetings with every stakeholder and community group, we initiated smaller “working groups” that included representatives from each larger contingent. Working in these more intimate small groups helped us narrow down the content into a workable amount. Second, and just as important, we then updated every individual member of every larger stakeholder group, keeping them abreast of any changes that these smaller “working groups” had made. Thus, we were able to move forward in selecting our content while still keeping every participant involved.
When The Defining Courage Experience opened after three years of hard work, I was almost in tears as I saw hundreds of the exhibition’s “authors” walk through the doors on opening day. I got chills as I saw them recognize their own stories in the space. They had worked hard for years planning this exhibition, and our decision to give them authorship resulted in an interpretive experience truly beyond what we could have created ourselves. Veterans and their families—both those involved in the planning and many others who were not—commented positively on how well the exhibition told the Japanese American World War II story. Local media, national Japanese American organizations, the general public, and area school children all gave enthusiastic and powerful reviews.
Onward
I now work at Taylor Studios, Inc., an exhibit design-build firm in central Illinois, as an interpretive planner. As we design exhibits for museums and nature centers throughout the country, I try to include members of under-represented and under-served groups in planning and content-creation whenever our exhibits interpret their history and culture. In fact, whether your exhibit focuses on a marginalized group, a majority culture, or singular individuals, you must always try to include them in the interpretive planning. This is important for all of us in this field, regardless of where we work or for whom we work. I am often asked, “Isn’t it a hassle to share authority when creating an exhibit or program?” My answer is always the same: sharing authority might be a lot of work, but it is unquestionably worth it! By letting the groups that I’m interpreting have actual authorship, the end result is a far more relevant and inclusive experience.
~ Chris Brusatte is an interpretive planner at Taylor Studios, Inc., in Rantoul, Illinois.