This is a past event
Museums are filled with ghosts – with histories of objects, histories of makers, and, even, histories of their staff, who leave their traces behind in unexpected places.
In this talk on Thursday 27 October from 4pm-5.15pm (BST), Dr Jennifer Walklate will argue that understanding the spectre – the ghost - is necessary to understanding the true position and potential of the museum as a cultural form. This discussion will address what precisely spectres are, and what hauntology is, before discussing how museums, through their spaces, operations, and objects, are haunted and hauntological. Dr Walklate will offer some examples of unexpected hauntings from her own experience.
Partly, this is about the thrill of haunting. But hauntings are also powerfully political. Ultimately, the key argument and conclusion of this talk is that understanding and accepting the museum’s inherently haunted status can enable us to change how museums behave in the 21st century, and how we understand their role in public life.
Online registrations have now closed. If you would like to attend this event please email us on alumni@abdn.ac.uk and we will register you.
This event will also be recorded and shared afterwards.
If you also have any questions please do not hesitate to email us at alumni@abdn.ac.uk.
- Speaker
- Dr Jennifer Walklate
- Contact