Allestire e comunicare il patrimonio storico-educativo, tra Public History of Education e Cultural Accessibility: il caso del nuovo MUDESC di Macerata

Public history is defined as 'the communication of history outside of the academic environment' (AIPH2018). From this perspective, university museums can communicate history in a variety of ways, including participatory history projects, public exhibitions, history festivals, lifelong learning activities and crowdsourcing campaigns. Equally important, however, is the creation of exhibition spaces capable of narrating history through simple and intuitive, yet scientifically grounded, modes of communication. The "Paolo and Ornella Ricca" School Museum, which was enlarged, renovated and reopened in December 2022, has completely revolutionised its exhibition and communication logic in order to translate historical content into a new layout. The latter has been enriched with new technological, communicative and narrative solutions that provide a light and accessible narrative. In addition, these solutions have made objects and historical knowledge meaningful and 'relevant' to many contemporary audiences. The essay outlines the criteria that guided the authors - respectively the museum's director and deputy director during the renovation years - in designing the new exhibits, with a focus on the public history approach.