DFG-Projekt

Dramaturgy of the ‘Experience-Driven’ Museum

The research project is a mixed-methods study dealing with the transition of practices of cultural distinction against the backdrop of museum transformation.

We investigated the question to what extent museums of different genres can nowadays be described as ‘event-driven’ or ‘experience-oriented’ and in how far new opportunities for distinctive practices in museums emerge.

The projects focused interrelations between the perspectives of responsible museum directors and curators and corresponding exhibition designs on the one hand and visitor behavior on the other.

Theoretically, our project was based on concepts of sociology of inequality and cultural sociology, but also on theory of differentiation.

Methods

Within the framework of a mixed method design, we conducted numerous observation protocols of different museum genres e.g., on the exhibition designs as well as on the practices of visitors and museum safety guards and attendants. In selected museums, we realized guided interviews with responsible museum officials (directors, curators, exhibition designers). In addition, we used standardized visitor surveys and carried out standardized observations in three contrasting museums.

Findings

Eventisation and experience-orientation: Eventisation in museums is based on the visitor’s active, sensory and emotional involvement which should lead to them being fascinated and having extraordinary experiences.
This type of promise is expressed, for example, in a pronounced contextualization of exhibits or of the exhibition itself, as well as in different types of activity options (e.g., hands-on exhibits). In this way, different eventization profiles of museums and attitudes towards experience orientation become recognizable.
Tensions: This trend towards eventisation is accompanied by various conflicting priorities. When addressing their audiences and designing exhibitions, responsible museum officials are on the one hand guided by rhetorics of sovereignty (making ‘own’ decisions, individual paths…). On the other hand, exhibition designs are guiding their audiences in terms of space and time - which can also be shown by observations of the audience. Furthermore, museum officials often have to face a dilemma concerning the characteristic value of their institution and economic, pedagogical and funding requirements. Though the development of a 'hybrid offer' is one answer to such conflicts of interest.
Practices of Social Distinction: One thesis is that responsible museum officials set rather ambivalent signals of ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’. Event-oriented situational contexts relevant to social distinction and differentiation emerge. Both, contextual and situational conditions – the staging of the exhibition and the social composition of the co-visitors – have an influence on visitors’ self-presentations as practices of differentiation and as practices of social distinction. According to our in-depth methodological reflections, the ‘distinctive nature’ of visitor practices and interactions in the sense of Bourdieu can hardly be unambiguous identified empirically within a concrete situation. This is a major challenge when investigating empirically on the reproduction of social inequality in museums and other cultural institutions. Different opportunities for evaluating visitors and social distinction emerge, but self-presentations in general and status-indicating distinctions in particular are rather entangled in a complex way.

Project duration

04/2014 until 03/2017 (36 months)

Team

Prof. Dr. Diana Lengersdorf, University of Cologne

Dr. Jennifer Eickelmann (Location Dortmund)

Julia Heidler, University of Cologne

Publications

i. E. 2023	Eickelmann, Jennifer; Burzan, Nicole: Challenges of multimethod and mixed methods designs in museum research [36 paragraphs]. In: Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 24(1), Art. 12, http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/fqs-24.1.3988 , Special Issue “Mixed Methods and Multimethod Social Research – Current Applications and Future Directions”.
2022	Burzan, Nicole; Eickelmann, Jennifer: Machtverhältnisse und Interaktionen im Museum. Frankfurt a.M./New York: Campus.
2018	Eickelmann, J.: Von Konzepten und ihren Kategoriensystemen: Erörterungen zu Erlebnisorientierung in Museum, Kirche und Kaufhaus als Figuration, in: Burzan, N./ Hitzler, R. (Hrsg): Typologische Konstruktionen. Prinzipien und Forschungspraxis. Wiesbaden, VS: 153-178 Click here for the article.
2017	Burzan, N.: Menschen im Museum. Theoretische Perspektiven auf empirische Erkundungen. In: Sociologia Internationalis, 55 (1), S. 1-26.
2017	Burzan, N.: Zum Wandel von Raum- und Zeitstrukturierungen am Beispiel von Museen. In: Zeitschrift für Theoretische Soziologie (ZTS), Sonderband 4: „Raum und Zeit. Soziologische Beobachtungen zur gesellschaftlichen Raumzeit“, hrsg. von Henkel, A./Laux, H./Anicker, F., S. 171-187.
2017	Burzan, N.: Eventisierung als Erscheinungsform hybrider Ereignisse? Konzeptionelle Überlegungen am empirischen Beispiel von Museen. In: Betz, G. J./Hitzler, R./Niederbacher, A./Schäfer, L. (Hrsg.): Hybride Events. Zur Diskussion zeitgeistiger Veranstaltungen. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, S. 219-231. Click here for the article.
2017	Burzan, N./Lengersdorf, D.: Ist Nicht-Teilnahme per se (Selbst-)Ausschluss? Ein Plädoyer für differenzierte Sichtweisen auf Dynamiken und Akteure am Beispiel von Museumsbesuchen. In: Lessenich, S. (Hrsg.): Geschlossene Gesellschaften. Verhandlungen des 38. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in Bamberg 2016. Click here for the article.
2016	Eickelmann, J.: Wenn Kunst zum Ereignis wird. Eine Kritik der ästhetischen Praxis erlebnisorientierter Museen, in: Kauppert, M./ Eberl, H. (Hrsg.): Ästhetische Praxis. Reihe: Kunst und Gesellschaft. Wiesbaden, Springer VS: 355-376. Click here for the article.
2016	Burzan, N.: Methodenplural erhobene Daten. Am Beispiel der Erforschung von Erlebnisorientierung in Museen. In: Burzan, N./Hitzler, R./Kirschner, H. (Hrsg.): Materiale Analysen. Methodenfragen in Projekten, Wiesbaden: Springer VS, S. 95-110. Click here for the article.

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Location & approach

By car

The campus of TU Dortmund University is located close to interstate junction Dortmund West, where the Sauerlandlinie A 45 (Frankfurt-Dortmund) crosses the Ruhrschnellweg B 1 / A 40. The best interstate exit to take from A 45 is "Dortmund-Eichlinghofen" (closer to Campus Süd), and from B 1 / A 40 "Dortmund-Dorstfeld" (closer to Campus Nord). Signs for the university are located at both exits. Also, there is a new exit before you pass over the B 1-bridge leading into Dortmund.

To get from Campus Nord to Campus Süd by car, there is the connection via Vogelpothsweg/Baroper Straße. We recommend you leave your car on one of the parking lots at Campus Nord and use the H-Bahn (suspended monorail system), which conveniently connects the two campuses.

By train

TU Dortmund University has its own train station ("Dortmund Universität"). From there, suburban trains (S-Bahn) leave for Dortmund main station ("Dortmund Hauptbahnhof") and Düsseldorf main station via the "Düsseldorf Airport Train Station" (take S-Bahn number 1, which leaves every 20 or 30 minutes). The university is easily reached from Bochum, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Duisburg.

You can also take the bus or subway train from Dortmund city to the university: From Dortmund main station, you can take any train bound for the Station "Stadtgarten", usually lines U41, U45, U 47 and U49. At "Stadtgarten" you switch trains and get on line U42 towards "Hombruch". Look out for the Station "An der Palmweide". From the bus stop just across the road, busses bound for TU Dortmund University leave every ten minutes (445, 447 and 462). Another option is to take the subway routes U41, U45, U47 and U49 from Dortmund main station to the stop "Dortmund Kampstraße". From there, take U43 or U44 to the stop "Dortmund Wittener Straße". Switch to bus line 447 and get off at "Dortmund Universität S".

By plane

The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.

The H-Bahn (Suspended Monorail System)

The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dortmund University. There are two stations on Campus Nord. One ("Dortmund Universität S") is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the university directly with the city of Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the "Technologiepark" and (via Campus Süd) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at Campus Nord and offers a direct connection to Campus Süd every five minutes.

Map

The facilities of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent "Technologiepark".

Site Map of TU Dortmund University (Second Page in English).