Between Reconstruction of the Past, Visitor Expectations and Animal Well-being

Told and Untold Stories about Human-Animal Relationships at Open-air Museums Told and Untold Stories about Human-Animal Relationships at Open-air Museums

Bibliographic Data

ID3056953
AuthorsMichael Schimek (Museumsdorf Cloppenburg, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume49
Issue2
Publication date2020-03-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnologia Europaea (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0425-4597 • E-ISSN: 1604-3030
PublisherBerghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.16995/ee.1445
OpenAlexW2972662540
LanguageEN
References cited3

As most open-air museums focus on preindustrial rural living conditions, they exhibit historical farmhouses that are presented in a specific holistic way, including the surroundings and livestock. Although these presentations create the impression of historical authenticity, they must remain incomplete due to missing sources and practical exhibition reasons. This also involves the human–animal relationships. Moreover, most visitors cannot interpret the settings displayed properly due to missing knowledge. After highlighting some historical aspects of human–animal relationships using the example of northwest German farmhouses, the article deals with the limits and opportunities of the open-air museums’ presentation of human–animal relationships based on a survey among German-speaking open-air museums. Finally, it pleads for a transparent approach to sensitize the visitors to humans’ current handling of and attitude towards animals

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Biology · Environmental ethics · Exhibition · German · Human animal · Livestock · Open air · Sociology · Visitor pattern · Animal and Plant Science Education · Computer Science · Engineering · Geographies of human-animal interactions · History · Philosophy · Ecology

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