Reconceptualizing environmental exhibits: postmodern critiques of exhibits in American natural history museums

With the growth of the environmental awareness, natural history museums have had an important position in environmental debates as informal educational institutions. This study examines the concept of environmental exhibits in a broad contextual setting which includes museums, environmentalism, and society. In the United States, both the development of museums and wilderness-inspired environmentalism are considered an integral part of the modem condition. Four case studies demonstrate that current environmental exhibits in natural history museums have epistemological and ideological limitations in making connections to nature, "right here where we live." Lastly, this study attempts to reconceptualize the concept of environmental exhibits through a three-dimensional theoretical framework. Based on the postmodernized condition of society, environmentalism, museums, and exhibits, the concept of environmental exhibits is reinvented through museological and museographical implications concerning the environment. By deconstructing illusionary images of nature and reconstructing multifold narratives, museums can lead visitors to realities of environmental issues. In this way, museums can complete their social responsibility in society.