The case for co-creation to mediate Cultural Heritage museums toward inclusive communication for all

Abstract

Co-creation offers an opportunity to both gauge and enhance the communication of complex and nuanced narratives around cultural heritage in ways that move beyond the expected presentation of cultural heritage in a museum. The starting point for this paper is an analysis done at the Egyptian museum in Turin, regarding the presentation of historic photos in a prominent highly visited gallery within the museum. Very few of the visitors dedicated their attention to them, suggesting that the current state of the exhibition is not sufficient to meaningfully communicate these photos to the public. The Authors carried out an experimental activity of co-creation to enhance the public’s involvement. The results of this study provide a baseline by which to understand how co-creation can be used in museums and other cases are discussed in this paper to present techniques applied by curators and interpreters. This paper further illustrates how co-creation activities could represent useful exercises to involve and include the most diverse public. Some fundamental principles of co-creative activities have been selected in different European countries. The Design of these activities in collaboration with museum curators is critical to define how to communicate cultural heritage in an inclusive way.

Keywords: META-MUSEUM, Interaction, Cultural Content

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1008023