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Abstract: We are facing a contemporary boom of museums that actually re-write the history of humanity by displaying their collections and sharing multiple experiences with their visitors, but very few are dedicated to advertising. In this particular context, the purpose of this article is to investigate the manners in which the history of advertising is actually written, by discussing two types of representations - within the curatorial practices of museum exhibition displays (set both in real spaces and online, in virtual museums), and within the online advertising archives, stating that we are faced with multiple histories of advertising mediated by the particular device of their settings. Our approach is focused on the creative part of advertising, or, more specifically, of advertising as a form at the borders of art.
Keywords: history of exhibitions, the exhibition as a mediating device, mediated histories of advertising, virtual museums, digital archives.
Introduction
We are today in the midst of a golden age of contemporary museums with new ones opening at short intervals and playing a popular role in the cultural life. A global phenomenon, in cities large and small, museums are settled in new signature buildings, are expanding their existing facilities or reconfiguring their current places. We are facing a contemporary boom of the cultural institutions that actually write / re-write the history of humanity, by displaying their collections and sharing multiple experiences with their visitors. From unique sites to expanding global networks, museums have nowadays become worldwide brands that attract millions of visitors annually. Contemporary art museums (Tate Modem), science museums (Science Museum London, Arts & Metiers Paris), fashion or design museums (V&A London, Design Museum London), ethnology museums (Tjibaou Cultural Center Noumea, Musée du Quai Branly Paris), history museums (Osaka Museum of History) are just some of the types of cultural institutions that deliver both information and entertainment to their viewers.
Still, in this array of arts and sciences, we find very few institutions dedicated to advertising: Musée de la Publicité in Paris, Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in London, The Canadian Advertising Museum, The Advertising Museum Tokyo are the most important institutions of the kind and their activities in terms of exhibition programs (excepting maybe the Parisian museum) are highly problematic. We find...