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about the author
Naomi Stead

Naomi Stead is in the second year of a PhD in Architecture at the University of Queensland, with a thesis entitled 'The Aesthetics of Truth: The presentation of the unpresentable in the contemporary history museum'.

The thesis examines several contemporary purpose-built history museums, including Daniel Libeskind's Jewish Museum in Berlin and Denton Corker Marshall's Museum of Sydney on the Site of First Government House, which address contested or 'unspeakable' histories.

It uses these museums as an entry point through which to approach more general issues in museology: the museum's role in the aesthetic presentation of history; the status of the historical object as effected by theatricality, interactivity and subjective experience in the contemporary museum; and the possibilities of the museum as memorial, monument, or 'work of mourning'.

With a particular emphasis on the implications of purpose-built museums as an architectural 'frame' for history, the thesis attempts to position itself at the intersection of museology, architecture, and critical aesthetics.

The author wishes to thank Dr John Macarthur for his assistance in the preparation of this paper, and welcomes comments via email: n.stead@mailbox.uq.edu.au

Email the author: n.stead@mailbox.uq.edu.au

Papers in the omj:

» The Ruins of History: allegories of destruction in Daniel Libeskind's Jewish Museum