A Museum is an Open Work

Abstract

Cultural institutions are incomplete until human beings experience them and use their experiences to advance thought and learning. Umberto Eco?s metaphor of the ?open work??a composition open to the interpretation of its performers?is used to suggest that the library, the museum, the historic home, the preserved area, the garden or the zoo await a performance of meanings by their users. The essay suggests that the mental lives of museum users are the field of play where assistance and guidance can be useful. Since these lives are tacit, and every user will complete the cultural institution in a different way, the museum should be seen as a situation where no single interpretation erases any other. Rather, stimulated by resounding connections, suggestions, and ideas, users are more likely to seek further information and, through their own questions, arrive over time at their own truths.

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