Meanings of Nationhood: Pedagogical Reflections on the Change of Script in the National Historical Museum of Chile
This article, accompanied by the video of the temporary exhibition of the Museo Histórico Nacional de Chile, MHC (National Historical Museum of Chile), called “Sinopsis, sentidos de nación” (Synopsis, senses of the nation), reflects upon the challenges that a national history museum faces in the 21st century. This museum, created in 1911, still exhibits a story almost exclusively focused on the feat of the Nation-state and groups of power; an urban, male and military history, which ignores the historical character of minorities. Today, this historical construction results in the difficulty that national history museums, such as the Chilean one, have in transforming themselves into spaces for public dialogue about the past. The temporary exhibition of the MHN “Sinopsis, sentidos de nación”, seeks to advance towards new museological proposals that incorporate this reflection. To achieve this, it proposes a temporary journey on the different senses of belonging in the history of Chile. While the video takes us on a tour of the exhibition, this article seeks to clarify the declaration of intention of its museological and museographic approach in educational, narrative and political terms, with the aim of answering pedagogical questions about the role of a museum with a national vocation and historical dedication, as well as to incorporate minorities in an inclusive and intersectional perspective.