The Politics of Representation in Museums

This entry begins by examining key words, 'politics', 'power' and 'representation', as they relate to the museum. It then moves on to explore how the politics of representation have been manifested in displays. A range of exhibitions is examined, particularly in national, art and ethnographic museums. The article argues posits the case that museums are not simply neutral containers of objects, but are ideologically loaded spaces, and it demonstrates how museum displays have, over the past decades, become politically charged battlegrounds between differing communities.