Masters Thesis

Enacted ethics: increasing access and balancing preservation in visible storage displays

For many major museums, it is estimated that as little as two percent of their collection is on view to the public at any given time. In light of this statistic, questions have been raised over whether museums are fulfilling their duty to engage the public and provide adequate access to their collections. In 1976, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia developed a system of visible storage that would display their entire collection in their public galleries. It was intended as a tool to increase access to their collection and to facilitate a process of democratization and decolonization at their museum. Since then, visible storage has spread to other museums and, in the process, been evaluated and reinterpreted. While not widespread, the practice appears to be growing with several new visible storage displays opened in the last few years in museums in the western region of the United States. By conducting a literature review, a web survey, and case studies, this thesis evaluates visible storage as a tool for increasing public access to museum collections and examines how museums balance access and preservation in visible storage.

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