Paper by PhD candidate Ruohan Mao

This report explores how museums can develop contextualization as an efficient interpretative tool. Although professionals have already been exploring the possibility of a ‘contextual approach’ and discussing the extension of ‘contextual exhibitions’ in past decades, there still exists a huge gap in terms of the methods that can be used to provide contexts for the meaning-making of objects and the principles and strategies that should be followed in contextual interpretation. This report uses visual methodology to make an on-site survey in over 20 Dutch/European museums and analyze contextual settings of their exhibitions. In addition, this paper also conducts ethnographic interviews for 15 curators and designers from 14 Dutch museum exhibitions. After identifying how contextual interpretation are practiced in museums, a set of core principles and methods are presented based on the framework of museum workflow: collection, research and communication. This research aims to provide theoretical and practical advice for a ‘Quantity to Quality’ shift in Chinese museums.