How museums with historical art collections deal with the past: a typology

Museums with historical art collections present the history of their art in different ways. This article distinguishes five typologies, based on the methods used by history teachers and the educational model of George E. Hein ([1998]. Learning in the Museum. London: Routledge). The past-oriented presentation concentrates on the history of the artworks and opts for a didactic, explanatory educational model. The present-oriented presentation uses old artworks to illuminate present-day issues. A variant is the ideological presentation, which aims not only to explain art like the present-oriented strategy but also to propagate a particular ideology. These politics of display use behaviorist stimulus-response methods. Postmodern presentations concentrate on the history of the artworks' reception over time, and emphasize the difference between the art objects from the past and the objects' history. Their favorite educational form is constructivism. This is also the case for the metamodern presentation, which makes inter-historical connections between old and new art works possible.