The museum as assemblage: bringing forth affect at the Australian War Memorial

Abstract

This article takes as its focus the Australian War Memorial, including its collections, the physical infrastructure of the site, its staff and the range of people who encounter it as tourists, researchers or military personnel and their families. In taking up this interest, our intention is not to diminish, ignore or bypass the role of narrative and representation in their spaces. Rather, we aim to contribute to a more-than-representational appreciation of museums. This sort of approach redirects attention to a range of elements including lighting, sound and movement. These are typically seen as ‘background noise’ but in reality do greatly productive work in terms of engineering atmospheres and subject positions for those within its spaces. This article interrogates the way in which these elements are utilized in four areas of the museum, all of which are explored through ethnographic reflections referencing ideas of more-than-human agency, affect and the haunting virtual.