Abstract
In 2021, the Keio Museum Commons hosted a participatory exhibition “Object Reading: Eight Perspectives on Reading Objects”. Its aims were to introduce the university’s various collections, to illustrate the diverse and different perspectives on artworks and resources depending on the field of expertise, and to create a space for visitors to participate in a research-based relationship with objects.
This paper reviews the challenges of “Object Reading” as a participatory exhibition and examines the redesign of the exhibition. First, an overview of object-based learning (OBL), which was employed as a framework for participation, and its relation to previous practices at KeMCo is described. Next, the issues involved in implementing OBL in exhibitions are clarified, and the redesign of the exhibition is examined from two aspects: the tools used at the venue and the exhibition design. Finally, these considerations address the role of participatory exhibitions in university museums and their potential connection to Citizen Science.
