Abstract

RECA, María Marta; SARDI, Marina; CANZANI, Ana  and  DOMINGUEZ, Cecilia. The visitors opine: study about human remains exhibition in the Museo de La Plata. Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2014, vol.7, n.1, pp.00-00. ISSN 1852-060X.

Abstract The exhibition of human remains is a controversial subject. Political, ethical and scientific aspects, with the sensitivity are together involved in the debate of this subject, producing contentious positions. In this study, we evaluated visitors’ opinions about the exhibition of human remains, considering as reference the permanent exhibition “Being and Belonging: a tour to human evolution”, opened in 2009 at the Museo de La Plata. Two hundred people were surveyed through a semi-structured questionnaire, which focuses on socio-demographic aspects, motivations and expectations for visiting the exhibition and their opinions about the institutional policies of human remains exhibition. The information was analyzed by statistical methods (Student’s t test, Tables of Contingency and Goodness of Fit). Results indicate that most of the visitors like to observe human remains; however, most of the visitors as well agree with the institutional decision of not to exhibit human remains of American origin. It is expected that this study contributes to develop institutional policies about exhibitions that consider the visitor and its studies as a relevant participant.

Keywords : Museum; Policies of exhibition; Human remains; Survey; Communication.

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