Pompeii Live: Performing Objects

On 18 June 2013, Pompeii Live brought the Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition from the British Museum into over 300 cinemas around the UK and Ireland. This paper draws on empirical research of Pompeii Live and audience experiences of the event, in order to consider: How were the objects featured in Pompeii Live encountered by the audience? What were the factors that shaped meaning and value attributed to them? What role was played by the ‘live’ in Pompeii Live? As access to museum collections is of growing concern, along with accountability to audiences, museums are likely to continue to trial innovative ways of distributing collections. These new ways of sharing collections and knowledge, through ever changing digital media, further speak to wider questions of what a museum is and what a museum does, challenging traditional notions of access, curation, and interpretation.