Performing a difficult past in a museum: The History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Performing a difficult past in a museum: The History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the case of the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo to explore the entanglements of the somewhat contradictory concept of a history museum as a research institution that aims to educate visitors about the past, as opposed to an artistic performativity that provides sensory engagement and a reliving of past moments. Drawing on the performative paradigm, it focuses on the ways in which a past is made into a present to facilitate experience and bodily re-enactments. The History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina has recently embraced new museology approaches that stem from the performative turn. For providing a platform where people can meet and talk about the past, museums have been viewed as promising places for dealing with difficult memories. Artistic performativity has also been valued for opening ways to reconciliation. However, given historical exhibitions’ and artistic installations’ different approaches towards the past, this paper seeks to address some questions that arise from performing difficult pasts in a museum. How do narratives conveyed by exhibitions and artworks interact and influence the overall narratives offered by museums?

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