Affiliation:
1. University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
Background: In 2022, the lost manuscript by Canadian designer and painter Harley Parker (1915–1992), The Culture Box: Museums Are Today, in which he envisions museums as multisensory experiences, was found among his belongings. Analysis: This Research in Brief looks at Parker’s contributions to museum exhibition design, both in The Culture Box and throughout his career. Conclusion and implications: By focusing on the role of the designer-communicator, Parker advanced a sensory museology ahead of its time, and, in collaboration with Marshall McLuhan, decoded the characteristics of the museum understood as a medium in terms of how it orchestrates sensory experiences.
Publisher
University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)