The Digital Society research cluster of CityU’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) organised a seminar titled “Multimodal communication in the contemporary museum: metafunctional principles for cross-modal analysis” on 8 November 2023. Chaired by Professor XU Xiaoyu, Assistant Professor of CityU’s Department of English (EN), the seminar featured Professor Louise RAVELLI, Professor of Communication in the School of the Arts and Media at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, as the speaker.
During the seminar, Prof Ravelli discussed the topic of multimodal communication in contemporary museums and provided some strategies for cross-modal analysis. She introduced spatial discourse analysis to understand how exhibitions can take on different meanings in physical and virtual environments. Delving into “Spatial Discourse Analysis”, she highlighted the significance of considering both the physical and virtual aspects of museum exhibitions, as the same exhibition conveys different meanings based on the environment of its presentation. The seminar also examined the social semiotic view of communication, drawing on Halliday’s language studies (1978, 2014) and image studies proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen (2021).
In her discussion, Prof Ravelli articulated the analytical approach. “Spatial discourse analysis aims to analyse the spatial texts, of which buildings are one component. These spatial texts synthesise building space, content, and user. Our examination encompasses the built structure, its overall form and space, as well as what is placed inside and outside the building, and how people use it,” she said.
Prof Ravelli provided various specific examples to showcase the application of spatial discourse analysis. She further listed different metafunctions concerning the built environment, specifically focusing on museums. For example, the Natural History Museum in London places a dinosaur skeleton in the centre of the main area. Prof Ravelli used this example to elucidate the concept of “organisational meaning” and how it relates to the arrangement of objects within a space. By strategically placing the dinosaur skeleton in a central position, the curators create an organisational meaning that allows visitors to enter the space and explore the exhibits in any order they desire. As one can see, spatial texts, such as the arrangement of objects within a museum, can influence the organisation and meaning-making processes of visitors. Curators’ intentional decisions on design shape the visitor experience and encourage exploration and engagement within the premises.
Another classic example the speaker raised was the “Eight Days in Kamay” exhibition at the State Library of New South Wales in Australia. Co-curated by Mr Damien WEBB, an Indigenous Australian and Head of the Indigenous Engagement Branch of the mentioned Library, this exhibition opened in 2020. Prof Ravelli underscored the importance of indigenous perspectives and leadership in shaping the exhibition’s content and meaning. Additionally, there are similarities and differences in applying spatial discourse analysis to the online context. The speaker remarked that museums are complex semiotic entities. Spatial discourse analysis provides a valuable framework for assessing the communicative potential of the built environment, while multimodal analysis can be applied to all meaning-making practices within museums.
Following Prof Ravelli’s talk, the Q&A session focused on the relationship between the physical museum and its virtual counterpart and the advice that one could give to museum professionals for constructing these two different versions. The floor also raised questions about the ongoing work on digital storytelling and creating immersive VR environments. This session introduced a fresh perspective on spatial discourse analysis, offering attendees a new lens to examine and understand museum communication.
