Book part:

Exhibiting Radio Sound: Transforming the exhibition space into an auditorium

Exhibitions are traditionally visually oriented, and exhibiting radio heritage as audio artefacts requires a transformation of the exhibition space into an auditorium as a listening space. However, this auditorium should not be modelled on the fixed listening position of the concert hall. Instead, it should retain the free-choice immersive environment of exhibitions. This article accounts for the design intentions of such a transformation and follows with an examination of observations and reported experiences from visitors. Inspired by Pierre Schaeffer’s dual concept of the sound object and reduced listening, it is suggested that this foregrounding of sound in exhibitions entails both a phenomenological concept of museum artefacts and an exhibition design that enables focused listening as audio artefacts are objects of perception constituted in situ. The study shows that exhibition elements aid the atmospheric and immersive listening experiences of visitors. The listening experience is subjective, as it can trigger personal memories, but the emotional responses of visitors are not entirely idiosyncratic. I argue that transforming the exhibition into a listening space provides an engaging platform for disseminating radio heritage as audio artefacts. In addition, such a transformation can broaden the visitors’ conception of what kinds of experiences the museum exhibition can provide.