Heritagelore and an Introduction to the Thematic Issue on Culture and Heritage Under Construction

Taking inspiration in Barbro Klein’s work, this article focuses on the production of a particular type of institutional lore that we call heritagelore. Heritagelore, as we are advancing the concept here, is composed of the discursive practices within the walls and the organizations of museums. It is the lore that shapes and at least partially structures the types of stories that directors, museum boards, curators, programing staff, and other museum personnel tell to one another about their institutions. As this article argues, the heritagelore of a museum legitimates certain curatorial perspectives, while making others more difficult to imagine.