Fact, fiction and value in the Museum of Innocence
This article explores the complexities of ethnography and aesthetics in the Museum of Innocence, a museum in Istanbul based on a novel by Orhan Pamuk. A cross between a museum and an art gallery, the Museum of Innocence houses objects described in the eponymous novel in display cabinets corresponding to the chapters of the book. The present contribution looks into the issue of legitimacy and value, from multiple perspectives, in a cultural institution that combines two epistemologies with a postmodern blurring of artefact and art. In doing so, it traces the parallels between the empirical reality portrayed in the novel and the display arrangements in the Museum, touching upon the tension between the various curatorial choices. Through objects and textual supplements, the Museum engages in cultural translation while eventually asserting aesthetic autonomy. Pointing out the multivalent nature of the collection, this study aims to encourage a reconsideration of dualistic understandings of value in museums and art galleries.