The cultural history and learning affordances of natural history dioramas

Abstract

A diorama is a careful positioning of a number of museum objects in a naturalistic setting. Natural history dioramas come in a variety of forms but typically contain skilfully positioned taxidermy specimens and other objects before a painted backdrop. While time-consuming and expensive to design and construct, dioramas offer tremendous potential as educational tools and are often very popular with museum visitors. There is great value, when such dioramas are used for educational purposes, in encouraging viewers to reflect on what they see and conclude. A diorama is a metaphor for reality not a faithful depiction of it. Metaphors can illuminate but they need to be examined and talked through, otherwise they can seduce unwittingly.