Facts and imagination – the uses of history and the credibility of museums

Authors

  • Signe Lykke Littrup Karen Blixen Museum
  • Poul Grinder-Hansen National museum, Copenhagen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/nm.10817

Abstract

This article discusses a somewhat controversial exhibition at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, The Royal Series at Kronborg Castle – Facts and Imagination with Jim Lyngvild and Poul Grinder- Hansen, which opened at Kronborg Castle in April 2021. The authors contributed to the exhibition’s content and form, Signe Lykke Littrup as curator and project manager, senior researcher Poul Grinder-Hansen as historical co-creator of the exhibition’s content in text, speech, and film. The article is built around experiences from the exhibition, methodological and theoretical considerations about its communication skills and quotes from interviews with guests who visited the exhibition in the summer and autumn of 2021. The article concludes that a cultural-historical exhibition can, through the conscious use of both contemporary and ancient works of art in a dialogue-based form, involve guests and create considerations about the conditions for the uses of the past in storytelling.

Author Biographies

Signe Lykke Littrup, Karen Blixen Museum

Formidlingschef

Poul Grinder-Hansen, National museum, Copenhagen

Seniorforsker

Museumsinspektør

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Published

2024-01-02