Catalysts for change? Museums of religion in a pluralist society

Abstract

Changing attitudes to religion in society have allowed museums to review the way their collections of artefacts, which have religious relevance and resonance, are displayed and interpreted. Yet, despite the fact that religion has been one of the key defining factors of cultures, there are very few museums which actually interpret multi‐faith. This paper argues that museums have the potential to create a forum for visitors to explore the role of faith in their own lives and to develop a fuller understanding of social and cultural change as it affects religious identities in the modern world. It focuses on three key contrasting museums of religion, which have developed because of cultural and religious change. They are The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Glasgow; the Museum of World Religions (MWR), Taiwan; and the State Museum of the History of Religion, St Petersburg. Their intended role and purpose is determined to establish how or if they succeed in delivering a multi‐faith museum experience whilst being subject to the social/cultural and religious biases inherent in their organisational structure. Lastly, some consideration is given to whether they act as museums or religious spaces. The paper concludes that they function as secular and therefore cultural spaces in which visitors may seek to explore their own religious or spiritual feelings.

Keywords:

• religion
• multi‐faith
• museums
• visitors/tourists