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