Constructing Identity at the Waikato Museum

My first night at a 4 star hotel on Victoria street was far more comfortable than the backpackers in all forms of physical comfort, and yet guests did not socialize or befriend each other. This is reflective of the different 'types' of tourists that stay here and the different experiences that are constructed and performed. I found myself changing the way I would have interacted or behaved had I been at a different accommodation, and I clearly saw that I was an example of performing a certain behavior that is expected in certain environments. As I am contemplating this I recall my visit earlier to the Waikato Museum and the identities that are constructed in such an enclosed environment. I remember how the different galleries of various themes were organized, designed to guide the visitors in semi-strict directions around the museum. These paths lead the visitor and construct their identity through the information that is revealed to them at certain points. These paths tell a sequence of stories that are designed to appeal to a wide range of audience, for example at the beginning of the path is a history on the Maori community in the Waikato Region, this information is shown in the form of maps, paragraphs, videos, pictures, music and physical artifacts. These apply to a wide range of ages and cultural backgrounds which reminds me of my publication regarding place meanings and the responsibility of tour companies, or in this case the museum itself, in controlling narratives which tourists participate in. This publication (Narrative of Place and Self: differing experiences of package coach tours in New Zealand 2005) illustrates how the narratives that are created by the companies are a reflection of an array of different meanings regarding both place and self. The museum to some extent controls the mood through lighting and atmosphere, the emotions through displays and information given, the way we behave through the amount of resting places provided and the paths we take. This controlled environment even takes away from us our camera, our fundamental element of both identification as a tourist and recording document for future reference. This takes away from us the identity of being a tourist and gives us an identity designed by the museum, we are at their mercy as we passively receive the information that they want to give us.