Essential reading on the subject:  Umberto Eco's "Travels in
Hyperreality." Especially for our California museum colleagues...
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amalyah keshet
director, visual resources, the israel museum, jerusalem
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
date: 05/24/96

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On Fri, 24 May 1996 09:37:53 -0700  Jennifer wrote:
>Dear Everyone,
>
>read a good article by Pearce & Moscardo who do a lot of
phsychological
>research in the area of tourism and heritage.(A little on the older
side
>now but still a good study). One in particular focussed on the
concept of
>`authenticity'. It gave evidence to support that although
`authenticity'
>is of the utmost importance to museum visitors it did not generally
mean
>what many museologists would describe as `authentic'. The recreated,
>somewhat themeparkian experience with objects was as real or dare I
say
>`more authentic' than experiences with said authentic historic
objects
>and settings.
>
>What exactly do museum people mean by an authenticity?
>What distortions do we invite or grapple with in not only preserving
the
>object but the more complex issue of preserving its `authenticity'?
>Whose version of `authenticity' matters and for what ultimate end
does it
>matter?
>
>If you have a spare moment I would like to hear from you.
>Thanks.
>
>Jennifer.
>"Just wondering".