Två fynd. Tre städer: En jämförande studie av tre arkeologiska utställningar

Sammanfattning: This thesis explores how different museums choose to present the same type of material. The study focuses on Anglo-Saxon material, from between 500 and 800 A.D. The exhibitions that have been selected deal with the Sutton Hoo ship burial, which is exhibited at the British Museum in London, and the Staffordshire Hoard, which has been exhibited both at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on- Trent. One thing that is investigated is whether the provenance of the findings play a part in the design of the exhibitions. Even though the artefacts were made and used around the same time, there are differences. For example, they represent two different types of findings, which were excavated seventy years apart. They were found in different parts of Britain, which belonged to different kingdoms in Anglo-Saxon times: Sutton Hoo was found in an area that belonged to East Anglia, while The Staffordshire Hoard was found where the Kingdom of Mercia once was. Today, the findings are furthermore exhibited at museums with different purposes. The British Museum has an international target audience, while The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery serve their respective regions. The fact that the museums’ purposes are different means that cultural memory is created for different groups based on the target receivers. The British Museum shows through its exhibit design how Ango-Saxon society relates to Europe. The message is also conveyed through the exhibition texts, which are written in accessible language. The content of the texts shows benevolence towards the rest of Europe in its vague descriptions of conflicts with other countries. The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery shows its message primarily through its exhibition texts. Unlike The British Museum, details about conflicts are described, other cultures are singled out as culpable, and more loaded language is used: an ‘us and them’ is created. Objects are presented as typically Anglo-Saxon even if they were as common in other parts of Europe. The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery creates a distance to the rest of Britain by emphasizing how large and powerful the area was when it belonged to Mercia. Here, they distance themselves by comparing Mercia to the other Anglic kingdoms and discussing in dramatized scenes that there are plans to conquer other kingdoms. Emphasis is put on the idea that The Staffordshire Hoard was found in the local area and is therefore their cultural inheritance. The study has shown that the provenance of the findings has had significance for the design of the exhibitions. The fact that The Staffordshire Hoard is a hoard which has been buried for unknown reasons has been used in different ways. The museum in Stoke has chosen to create a dark and mysterious exhibition room, while the museum in Birmingham has created a big, light and open exhibition space, which visitors may associate with the search for and mediation of enlightenment and knowledge. The fact that Sutton Hoo is a ship burial with a clear purpose has a significance. At The British Museum, the Sutton Hoo- exhibition case has been designed with the idea of a ship burial in mind: the case is long and narrow, and a ship has been drawn inside. Another contributing factor to the difference between the exhibitions’ narratives is how objects are used. The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery uses objects as tools for telling a story. The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery uses history to explain the objects and give them a context. At The British Museum, the objects are needed to understand the message of the exhibition, and the context of the exhibition is needed to understand the objects. The study shows that though the same type of material is exhibited, each exhibition conveys a different message. The narratives of the exhibitions communicate the following: British Museum = Britain and Europe Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery = Britain against Europe Potteries Museum & Art Gallery = Mercia against the rest of Britain