# data[].attributes.body
How do national museums differ/relate to other kinds of museums – e.g. state/regional/other national museums/galleries – and how have they changed over time?

How should these specific roles be reflected in the nature of its collections/programs? (e.g. specific programs/areas/exhibitions)

# data[].attributes.body
"The architectural appearance, role, functionality and display formats of national museums have all changed significantly in the past few decades. The ‘heavy handed’, ‘speaking from above’ tone of the traditional national museum has in many instances been replaced by a more pluralist and inclusive approach that stresses the role of the contemporary national museum as being more like an open-ended ‘forum for the people’ – for the construction of meaning/identity - rather than a fixed space for a linear, one-way narrative."
Can you find examples where this is happening?

Is it possible to capture a sense of identity in a contemporary national museum? Can you think of any examples?

What are the positive and negative aspects associated with both approaches? (i.e. traditional 'heavy handed' compared with a more open-ended inclusive approach)

# data[].attributes.body
How can museums represent national ‘identity’?

What is the best way to express this in a museum? And to what extent is it possible, for example, to tackle contentious or political issues?

# data[].attributes.body
Analyse the architecture and installations of the National Museum of China and National Museum of Australia in Google Art Project and on their websites – are they effective/appealing? How do they compare with the Shanghai Museum?

National Museum of Australia
https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/national-museum-of-australia-galleries/5wF161fenKUT5w?sv_h=0&sv_p=0&sv_pid=hjUXZlgZMgha7_LQ7II1tA&sv_lid=13174458512189543304&sv_lng=149.12097762781764&sv_lat=-35.29390114312458&sv_z=1.8364850016658516

National Museum of China, Beijing
http://en.chnmuseum.cn
https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/m047d5yv

Shanghai Museum
https://www.shanghaimuseum.net/museum/frontend/en/index.action

# data[].attributes.headline
Intro video for National Museum of Australia

# data[].attributes.subject
Intro video for National Museum of Australia

# data[].attributes.headline
National Museum of China - not an official video - but at least helpful in a basic/linear way

# data[].attributes.subject
National Museum of China - not an official video - but at least helpful in a basic/linear way

# data[].attributes.body
STRATEGY PLAN https://www.nma.gov.au/about/corporate/plans-policies/strategic-plan

http://www.nma.gov.au/history/aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-cultures-histories

http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/eternity/home

http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/journeys/home

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We keep the stories of Australia's social history, our unique and distinctive land, nation and people through exhibitions, events, education resources, collections and research.

# data[].attributes.headline
Google Arts & Culture - National Museum of Australia

# data[].attributes.subject
Google Arts & Culture - National Museum of Australia

# data[].attributes.body
Virtual Tour

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
National Museum of Australia Galleries - Google Arts & Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore collections and stories from around the world with Google Arts & Culture.

# data[].attributes.headline
Google Arts & Culture - National Museum of China, Beijing

# data[].attributes.subject
Google Arts & Culture - National Museum of China, Beijing

# data[].attributes.body
Virtual Tour

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
National Art Museum of China - Google Arts & Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The National Art Museum of China is located at 1 Wusi Ave, Dongcheng District, Beijing, People's Republic of China.

# data[].attributes.body
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
http://en.chnmuseum.cn/about_the_nmc_593/message_from_nmc_director_595/201911/t20191122_173222.html

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Houmuwu" Bronze Square Cauldron (Ding)

Height 133cm, Mouth 112×79.2cm

Three characters are inscribed on the inside of the body: 'Hou mu wu', written in a vigorous and robust script, with full shape and strokes which taper into points at their ends but are full in the middle.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Three characters are inscribed on the inside of the body: 'Hou mu wu', written in a vigorous and robust script, with full shape and strokes which taper into points at their ends but are full in the middle.

# data[].attributes.headline
The readings highlight some critical problems faced by those developing national museum exhibitions - they include the following:

# data[].attributes.subject
The readings highlight some critical problems faced by those developing national museum exhibitions - they include the following:

# data[].attributes.body
A tendency to 'essentialise' culture/identity

A tendency to 'depoliticise' culture/identity

A tendency to assume too much prior background/shared cultural knowledge on the part of the visitor

Can you see these issues at play in any of the museums you are looking at?

# data[].attributes.headline
Porciani, 2015 argues that History Museums now increasingly need to address previously suppressed histories of “multiple voices of different witnesses, be they immigrants or survivors, colonized peoples, subaltern, minorities, natives or people once described as history-less because of their race, origins of social or gender inferiority, are now increasingly present in museums”

# data[].attributes.subject
Porciani, 2015 argues that History Museums now increasingly need to address previously suppressed histories of “multiple voices of different witnesses, be they immigrants or survivors, colonized peoples, subaltern, minorities, natives or people once described as history-less because of their race, origins of social or gender inferiority, are now increasingly present in museums”

# data[].attributes.body
Can you think of any museums/exhibitions that are actually attempting to do this?

# data[].attributes.headline
MacDonald, 2003: “A crucial question for museums today concerns their role in a world in which nation-statist identities are being challenged. Are they too inextricably entangled in ‘old’ forms of identity to to able to express ‘new’ ones?” 

# data[].attributes.subject
MacDonald, 2003: “A crucial question for museums today concerns their role in a world in which nation-statist identities are being challenged. Are they too inextricably entangled in ‘old’ forms of identity to to able to express ‘new’ ones?” 

# data[].attributes.body
Can you think of any museums/exhibitions that are actually grappling with this question?

# data[].attributes.headline
Imagine that you have international friends coming to visit you in your home country - your have planned to take them to your local national museum as a means of filling them in on your country's national history/identity - how would you do this in the museum? What things would you highlight? Is the museum helpful - or not - in informing your friends about your country's history/identity?

# data[].attributes.subject
Imagine that you have international friends coming to visit you in your home country - your have planned to take them to your local national museum as a means of filling them in on your country's national history/identity - how would you do this in the museum? What things would you highlight? Is the museum helpful - or not - in informing your friends about your country's history/identity?

# data[].attributes.body
[Note - of course you may feel free to critique the basis of this question - e.g. whose 'country' are we speaking of? Who is speaking on whose behalf? Do you need to be 'Australian' or 'Chinese' to understand the essence of that country's national museum? etc....]