Olga N. AVERYANOVAThe Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts
12 Volkhonka str., Moscow, 119019, Russia
Head of Photography Department
Doctor of Art History
e-mail: olga.averyanova@arts-museum.ru
ORCID: 0000-0003-0741-7813
Photography and Exhibition Practices in the Space of an Art MuseumAbstract: Over the past few decades, the position of photography in the museum has changed radically. What was previously considered a marginal, secondary or mere mass medium has become one of the elements of the museum exhibition, taking its place alongside other pictorial genres, not inferior in anything – neither in the complexity of the concept, nor in the physical scale.
The article examines photography in the context of studying museums and the efforts they make to implement an open, democratic and inclusive policy. This suggests drawing a parallel between photography and museums at a time when the globalization of technology, aesthetics and politics requires a radical rethinking of both phenomena. The transformative and adaptive qualities of museums and photographs are subject to similar historical mechanisms.
The priority of context in the production of meaning is evident for different categories of objects and systems of representation. The specificity lies in the processes of interpretation of works by different parties, including museum specialists, critics, artists and the general public. The reality of a democratic image culture could hardly be found in traditional museum models with their authoritarian policies and expert discourse, strictly protected by copyright a quarter of a century ago.
Today, by posting photos in the dialogue that museums have on YouTube and other electronic resources, they demonstrate the possibilities of free reflection. The article is devoted to the specifics of photography, whose substantiality has called into question the authority and strength of both museums and its own, its existence in the space of conflicting cultural meanings and beyond; analysis of how the visual surface of the exposition changes, finding itself in the discursive chaos of contexts; and how digital technologies influence modern museum practices, becoming an integral part of them.
Key words: museum, photography, exhibition, visual practices, archives, contexts, digital technologies, medium.
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For Citation: Averyanova, O. (2022) Photography and Exhibition Practices in the Space of an Art Museum. International Journal of Cultural Research, 1 (46). 36–47. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2022_1_36
DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2022_1_36
