Re-curating based on the visitor’s own perspective: object, space, and experience

This study examines how visitors reinterpret exhibitions through photography and Instagram, reframing this behavior as a practice of re-curation. In contrast to existing marketing-oriented perspectives, Lakoff, G., and M. Johnson's (1999. Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought. New York: Basic Books) image schemas form the study’s underlying cognitive framework. Via curator interviews and visitors’ storyboards on Instagram, it analyzes how the visitor's experience unfolds through dynamic interactions with space and objects. Its innovation lies in treating Instagram posts as a highly participatory form of curatorial collaboration. We offer important insights for museum management and curatorial practice and elucidate how to optimize spatial layout, enhance visitor engagement, and transform objects and spaces into co-created experiences.