The depiction of a difficult heritage : A study of the exhibitions of Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos

Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (MMDH) in Santiago, Chile is dedicated to the depiction of a difficult heritage. This museum of memory and human rights narrates the military dictatorship in Chile 1973–1990, a time when thousands of people were subjected to unthinkable human rights violations committed by the Government Junta of Chile. Memorial museums exist worldwide and aim to depict a specific historical event when people have been victimized by the state. By showcasing the crimes committed by the junta, MMDH seeks to contribute to the culture of human rights to prevent human rights violations from reoccurring in the future; a culture of Nunca Más (Never Again). In this thesis, the permanent exhibitions of MMDH have been studied through the lenses of representation and discourse theory. The purpose has been to understand the way in which the museum depicts the dictatorship and whether the goal of contributing to a human rights culture was visible in the material that is presented in the exhibitions. The results show that MMDH depicts a story using different themes primarily relating to the crimes committed by the Chilean state and the civilian population’s fight for human rights. In the exhibitions, several themes evoke emotions and can generate a real impact on the visitors. However, the museum presents its material without analysis or interpretation and it disclaims placing the dictatorship in a historical and political context, which can inhibit the educational purpose of the museum. In addition, since the exhibitions lack educational material on human rights and democracy, the categorization of being a museum of human rights with the goal of contributing to a culture of human rights, is insufficient. In the discourse of the exhibitions present at MMDH there is an apparent inclusion and exclusion of narratives which can be explained by the museum’s political link in a country that to this day is undergoing a process of dealing with its past. This is a two-year master’s thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies