On the modes of understanding a museum exhibit: the exhibited object and the manifested thing

The article contains an analysis of an exhibit as a basic element of museum space. The method of its consideration involves turning to the two horizons of thinking: subject-object and material. According to the first horizon an exhibit is the passive entity in relation to the active one — the person. Museum staff places an exhibit in a specially prepared space, accompanies it with explanations (a label) and during a tour constructs meanings with its help. Museum visitors direct their intellectual efforts to an exhibition and interpret its meaning, explaining its importance and originality. Within the framework of the material horizon of consideration, an exhibit itself has an active principle: it is what initiates the process of communication with an individual. An exhibit, as a material embodiment of the past, present and future, represents the world, exposes and captures reality. An exhibit-thing testifies to events, tells about its owners and the eras to which it belongs, and also sets the context in which its placement is appropriate.