Rhetorics of Value: Fashioning Worth and Meaning through Cultural Display Available to Purchase

Chapter 2 outlines the theoretical framework underlying exhibit analyses in later chapters. It considers claims about museums’ role in creating values and develops the notion of “rhetorics of value” along with an approach to exhibitions as multimodal, multimedia communication. The chapter begins to consider how exhibit makers combine and choreograph diverse options from each design medium’s repertoire to produce displays with potential to touch, educate, and engage visitors. Two media central to exhibit design—exhibit lighting and texts—serve as examples to illustrate the range and possibilities each design medium holds.