The Study Of The Museum Public Sphere

This paper takes the study of the museum public sphere as the topic and constructs the basic concept of the museum public sphere by means of subject,mode and target.Then,this paper will expand this concept in the dimension of time,from a diachronic perspective to present the emergence and evolution of the museum public sphere so as to explore the possible path for contemporary museums to get involved in the topic of the public sphere.In the face of the topic of "the museum public sphere",previous discussions were mostly limited to how museums define and constantly expand the concept of public so as to make it open and accessible to the public.However,these studies have narrowed the research scope of the museum public sphere.Therefore,this paper,on the basis of familiarity with the existing research on the museum public sphere at home and abroad,carries out a detailed discussion from the following three aspects:First of all,this paper based on the exposition of the public sphere by Habermas and other two scholars,summarizes the key principles of the museum public sphere from the three aspects——the main body,mode and goal and then discusses the possibility that the museum constitute the public sphere from the two aspects of concept and practice.The museum public sphere refers to the field in which the public,including the consumer and the producer,represent and discuss issues of public importance and controversy by means of watching,writing and communicating,so as to reflect public demands and reconcile the relationship between the public and the state.Secondly,this paper tries to answer when the museum started the practice of constructing the museum public sphere.Before the French Revolution,the development of museums reflected the characteristics of "being in the private sphere".Both the subject and the space of collection pointed to individual preferences and desires.Then,the practice of museums in the 18th and 19th centuries was full of contradictions.On the one hand,museums gradually stripped away from the private sphere and then slipped into the control of the state.On the other hand,it serves as a public space where the public learn "how to be civilized".It wasn't until the New Museology that the museum began to connect with wider public,display richer social issues and reflect stronger social responsibility.Thirdly,the paper finally focuses on how to make the construction of museum public sphere more effective.To this end,museums should appeal to two groups of people——the audience as knowledge producers,and the community as owners of objects.Museum show the voices of individuals that are not valued by the public through public representative management,display of public culture and seek media cooperation seeking with a view to amplifying problems and stresses and acting as an early warning.However,the discussion about the museum public sphere goes beyond that.It seems to be an unchanging term,but its connotation is constantly changing.On the one hand,it has a profound interaction with the public sphere,on the other hand,being a dynamic concept,with the development of museum in theory and practice,the cognition of the museum public sphere will be a process of continuous practice,summary,and revision.