From Museum Guiding to Storytelling in Intangible Cultural Heritage Museums SOMUT OLMAYAN KÜLTÜREL MİRAS MÜZELERİNDE MÜZE REHBERLİĞİNDEN ANLATICILIĞA
Milli Folklor, cilt.19, sa.150, ss.60-73, 2026 (AHCI, Scopus, TRDizin)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 19 Sayı: 150
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.58242/millifolklor.1916387
- Dergi Adı: Milli Folklor
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM), MLA International Bibliography, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.60-73
- Anahtar Kelimeler: intangible cultural heritage museum, Museum guide, museum narrator, safeguarding, transmission
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır
Özet
A museum guide is a person who provides visitors with information about the museum and the artefacts on display within a specific timeframe, and who guides them through their visit. Nowadays, the practice of guiding in museums is carried out by individuals who have graduated from departments such as museology, archaeology or art history and have chosen guiding as a profession within a museum. On the other hand, it is also carried out by individuals who have graduated from tourist guiding programmes and are generally able to guide visitors in various museums, typically within a specific region. Alongside these practices, digital guiding systems such as audio guides or robot guides are also utilised in line with technological developments in museums. This article aims to examine the guiding model in museums of intangible cultural heritage and to identify the common characteristics of those who provide such guidance. Museums of intangible cultural heritage adopt an approach whereby living culture is safeguarded alongside the museum’s collection. This approach stems from the application, within the field of museology, of the concept of safeguarding set out in the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2003. The impact of the Convention is evident in the International Council of Museums’ (ICOM) definition of cultural heritage—which, for the first time in 2007, encompassed both tangible and intangible cultural heritage—and in its reaffirmation of this view in 2022. Museums of intangible cultural heritage employ dynamic exhibition techniques centred on practice and experience. These museums maintain that the living keeping, safeguarding and transmission of intangible cultural heritage can only be achieved in collaboration with people. This has led to the development of a guided tour model in intangible cultural heritage museology that focuses on narration, re-enactment or performance, distinguishing it from other types of museums. This guiding model is also consistent with a new approach to museology that places people and society at the centre and is open to communication. The article examines the concept of the museum guide and evaluates guiding practices in museums of intangible cultural heritage. The research employed a literature review method, and the information obtained was interpreted using examples. As part of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with both guides working in museums of intangible cultural heritage and those providing guidance in other types of museums. The sample comprised thirteen museums in Turkey, seven of which specialised in intangible cultural heritage, whilst the others covered genres such as history or ethnography. The aspects in which guides at museums of intangible cultural heritage differ from those at other types of museums were assessed. It was found that the training, knowledge and skills of the guides working in these museums, as well as the language they use, the narrative environment and the characteristics of the visitors, all contribute to the diversity of their narratives. The use of methods such as storytelling or performative guiding by the guides emerged as key factors facilitating visitor participation in the process and helping them to form a connection with the museum. In this context, museum guiding has been defined as a professional role that also encompasses teaching within the field of folklore. Consequently, the term ‘museum narrator’ has been proposed as an alternative to ‘museum guiding’ in museums of intangible cultural heritage, and emphasis has been placed on the contribution that the application of this guiding system in different museum types, such as ethnographic museums, will make to safeguarding through living heritage.