Objects of Tourist Desire – Consuming Museum Souvenirs from Objects on Display

Purpose – Souvenirs are objects of desire often consumed when traveling. In museum stores, one finds what is called “museum souvenir” – which reproduces, in some way, works of art and other museum objects. In this sense, the link between the consumption of museum souvenirs and the relationship between tourists and objects on display was investigated. The research aimed to analyze the consumption of this type of souvenir in museum stores, in theoretical dialogue with the theme of souvenirs and their consumption in tourism, and with the concepts of “aestheticization” (Lipovetsky; Serroy, 2015) – appropriation of beauty as a consumer good –, and “technical reproducibility” (Benjamin) – the substitution of the unique existence of the work by a serial existence. Design/methodology/approach – It is thus clear that subjects are not separated from their materialities (Miller, 2013) and that souvenirs are part of the universe of material things that make up the materialities of tourism. The ethnographic-based field research took place in museums in the city of Rio de Janeiro, adopting systematic observation and interviews. Findings – Results point to the existence of a symbolic dimension in the relationship between the consumption of museum souvenirs and the exhibition visited, as they are connected to the experience and aesthetic fruition of tourists with works on display. Research limitations/implications – Adopting souvenirs as an object of study from this perspective has enabled the expansion of analyses on their consumption by tourists, identifying gaps of scientific interest and projecting relevance to the research. Practical implications – Other public profiles interested in souvenirs of different types and in consuming them for different purposes and in different places cannot be ignored. However, this qualitative research identified tourists who clearly demonstrated a desire to consume these categories of museum souvenirs. Originality/value – The approach gives the article an innovative character and possibilities for theoretical and methodological contributions to future studies, such as theoretical dialogues with authors from the field of anthropology, with the existing theory on souvenirs and their consumption in tourism. Furthermore, it stands out from the most recurrent perspectives found in the literature on the subject in the area of ​​tourism, as it seeks to deepen the understanding of the production of meanings.