Curating popular music heritage: storytelling and narrative engagement in popular music museums and exhibitions

In parallel with a globally ageing 'baby-boomer' population, Western societies have seen an increase in the number of museums devoted to popular music. However, the discourse, design and display of traditional museums is at odds with the culture of popular music and its audience. This article explores how curators of 'new museums' of popular music harness aspects of storytelling to increase patron engagement within their exhibits. Drawing on interviews with curators in popular music museums around the world, it seeks to understand the ways memory and narratives are embedded in decisions regarding the design of substantial exhibitions and individual displays through a three-part framework of narrative-led approaches to design. Therein, the authors highlight issues relating to the overt use of narrative in popular music exhibits, including knowledge of amateur expert patrons, the potential for skewed or unbalanced histories, and the institutionalisation of the popular music genre at large.