Similar or Different? Configurations of Authenticity Across Museum Types

Authenticity is traditionally regarded as playing a crucial role in museums, science centers, and memorials. However, despite this fact, authenticity has very different meanings in different (institutional) settings. This complicates shared communications across museum practices. To address this, an international network (BILAD) comprising practitioners from diverse museums, along with museum education and learning researchers, has committed to exploring how authenticity can be conceptualized across various museum contexts. This article presents the results of intensive discussions within the network. In a first step, key theoretical approaches and research findings on authenticity are outlined and four core facets of authenticity are defined. Building on this foundation, it then examines configurations of authenticity in different types of museums and discusses these findings comprehensively. This cross‐theoretical and cross‐setting integration of different approaches and research findings offers an analytical framework of the topic of authenticity.