Open air museum Totally Explained

Everything about Living Museum totally explained

An open air museum is a distinct type of museum exhibiting its collections out-of-doors. The first open air museums were established in Scandinavia towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the concept soon spread throughout Europe and North America. Open air museums are variously known as skansen, museums of buildings, living farm museums, living history museum and folk museums. A more recent form is the Ecomuseum, which originated in France. A comprehensive history of the open air museum as idea and institution can be found in the Swedish museologist Sten Rentzhog's book "Open air museums. The history and future of a visionary idea", 2007.

Definition

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines a museum as "a non-profit making, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment." Most open air museums specialize in the collection and re-erection of old buildings at large out-door sites, usually in settings of re-created landscapes of the past. Most of them may therefore justly be described as building museums. Open air museums tended to be located originally in regions where wooden architecture prevailed, as wooden structures may be trans-located without substantial loss of authenticity.
Common to all open air museums, including the earliest ones of the 19th century, is the teaching of the history of everyday living by people from all segments of society.

European origins

The earliest open air museum appeared in Scandinavia in the late 19th century. One reason may be the ancient tradition of moving and re-erecting wooden buildings, based on the local log building technique. The idea was a predictable further development of the by then well-established in-door type of museum. In order to collect and display whole buildings, it would have to be done outdoors. Precursors of open air museums were the "exotic" pavilions, "antique" temples, "ancient ruins" and "peasant cottages" to be found in 18th century landscape parks. Later precursors were the real or constructed peasant cottages shown at the international exhibitions of the mid- to-late 19th century.
The world's first open air museum was King Oscar II's collection near Oslo in Norway, opened in 1881. The original plans comprised 8 or 10 buildings intended to show the evolution of traditional Norwegian building types since the middle ages. Only 5 were realized before the king lost interest because of the expenses involved. The royal open air museum was later incorporated into the Norsk Folkemuseum, established on an adjacent property in the 1890's. Influenced by a visit to the Norwegian open air museum, Artur Hazelius in 1891 founded the famous Skansen in Stockholm, which became the model for subsequent open air museums in Northern and Eastern Europe, and eventually in other parts of the world. The name "skansen" has also been used as a noun to refer to other open-air museums and collections of historic structures, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.
Around 1900, national and regional open air museums were established in all Scandinavian countries, notably in Norway and Sweden.

North American interpretation

The North American open air museum, more commonly called a living history museum, had a different, slightly later origin than the European, and the visitor experience is different. The first was Henry Ford's Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan (1928), where Ford intended his collection to be "a pocket edition of America" . But it was Colonial Williamsburg (opened in 1934) which had a greater influence on museum development in North America. It influenced such projects through the continent as Mystic Seaport, Plimoth Plantation, and Fortress Louisbourg. What tends to differentiate the North American from the European model is the approach to interpretation. In Europe, the tendency is to usually, but not always, focus on the building. In North America, the open air museums invariably include interpreters who dress in period costume and conduct period crafts and everyday work. The living museum is therefore viewed as an attempt to recreate to the fullest extent conditions of a culture, natural environment or historical period. The objective is total immersion, using exhibits so that visitors can experience the specific culture, environment or historical period using all the physical senses. Performance and historiographic practices at American living museums have been critiqued in the past several years by scholars in anthropology and theatre for creating false senses of authenticity and accuracy, and for neglecting to bear witness to some of the darker aspects of the American past (for example, slavery and other forms of injustice) .

Selected list of open air and living museums

Europe

A (in German)
Amberley Working Museum, Amberley, West Sussex, England
Beamish, North of England Open Air Museum, Beamish, County Durham, England
Black Country Living Museum, Dudley, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England
Blists Hill Victorian Town, Telford, Shropshire, England
Biskupin Archaeological Museum, Poland
Cogges Manor Farm Museum, Witney, Oxfordshire, England
Drvengrad (Mećavnik, Küstendorf), Mokra Gora (Zlatibor), Serbia
Etar Architectural-Ethnographic Complex, Gabrovo, Bulgaria
Hanácký skanzen (Skanzen of the Haná Region), Příkazy, Czech Republic
Little Woodham, Gosport, Hampshire, England
Museum lidových staveb (Folk Buildings Museum), Kouřim, Czech Republic
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Wenecja near Żnin, Poland
Nederlands Openluchtmuseum, Arnhem, The Netherlands
The Old Town, Aarhus, Denmark
Open Air Museum Bokrijk, Belgium, Flanders, Limburg, Genk
Orvelte, The Netherlands
Polabské národopisné muzeum (Ethnographic Museum of the region of Polabí), Přerov nad Labem, Czech Republic - the oldest skansen in Central and Eastern Europe
Luostarinmäki, Turku, Finland
Jamtli, Östersund, Sweden
Kulturen, Lund, Sweden
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland
Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden
Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo, Norway
Maihaugen, Lillehammer, Norway
Roscheider Hof , Germany
Mödlareuth, Germany
Staro selo (Old Village open air museum), Sirogojno (Zlatibor), Serbia
Valašské národopisné muzeum (Valachian Ethnographic Museum), Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, Czech Republic
Zuiderzeemuseum], Enkhuizen, The Netherlands
Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum, Rocca al Mare, near Tallinn, Estonia
Viimsi Vabaõhumuuseum, Viimsi, near Tallinn, Estonia

Africa

The Pharaonic Village, Cairo, Egypt

Canada

Halifax Citadel National Historic Site of Canada (Citadel Hill), Halifax, Nova Scotia

Westfield Heritage Village, Ontario

Barkerville, British Columbia

Black Creek Pioneer Village, Toronto, Ontario

Fort Henry, Ontario

Fort Edmonton Park, Edmonton, Alberta

Fort Langley National Historic Site, Fort Langley, British Columbia

Fortress Louisbourg, Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

Fort William Historical Park, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Fort York, Toronto, Ontario

Markham Museum, Markham, Ontario

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, Midland, Ontario

Upper Canada Village, Morrisburg, Ontario

Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, Alberta

Heritage Park Historical Village, Calgary, Alberta

Burnaby Historical Village, Burnaby, British Columbia

United States

Allaire Village, Wall Township, New Jersey

Claude Moore Colonial Farm, McLean, Virginia

Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia

Conner Prairie, Fishers, Indiana

Historic Deerfield, Deerfield, Massachusetts

Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Frontier Culture Museum, Staunton, Virginia

Hale Farm & Village, Bath, Ohio

Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan

Jamestown Settlement, Jamestown, Virginia

Jerusalem Mill, Kingsville, Maryland

Little Norway, Blue Mounds, Wisconsin

National Colonial Farm, Accokeek, Maryland

Lincoln's New Salem, Menard County, Illinois

Ohio Village, Columbus, Ohio

Old Bethpage Village Restoration, Old Bethpage, New York

Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, Massachusetts

Old World Wisconsin, Eagle, Wisconsin

Oliver Miller Homestead, South Park Township, Pennsylvania

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Mercer County, Kentucky

Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, Massachusetts

Pioneer Living History Village, Phoenix, Arizona

Polynesian Cultural Center, Lā'ie, Hawai'i, United States

Strawbery Banke, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

San Dieguito Heritage Museum, Encinitas, California

South Park City, Fairplay, Colorado

Westville, Lumpkin, Georgia

Living transportation museums

Brooklands in Weybridge, Elmbridge, Surrey, England (aviation and motorcar museum)

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park from Georgetown, Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland (heritage canal)

Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad from Chama, New Mexico to Antonito, Colorado (heritage railway)

Delta Queen travels along the Mississippi River and tributaries (heritage river steamboat)

Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum in Bremerhaven, Germany (maritime museum)

Edaville Railroad in South Carver, Massachusetts (heritage railway)

Hiroshima City Transportation Museum in Hiroshima, Japan (street railway museum)

Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut (maritime museum)

National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire, England (heritage street railway)

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Rhinebeck, New York (aviation museum)

Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine (heritage railway)

Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, England (aviation museum)

Skansen Parowozownia Kościerzyna in Kościerzyna, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland (heritage railway)

Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania (heritage railway)

Valley Railroad Company in Essex, Connecticut (heritage railway)

White Pass and Yukon Route from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon (heritage railway)

Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway in Alna, Maine (heritage railway)

Ecological and environmental living museums

Some ecological living museums are zoos

California Living Museum, Bakersfield, California, United States

Virginia Living Museum, Newport News, Virginia, United States

Nonsuch Island Living Museum, Bermuda

Notes

Further Information

Get more info on 'Living Museum'.

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