What Remains – Interpreting Human Remains in the Museum, Athens, Greece
26.09.2025
Memory, Ideas
At the 2019 conference They are not silent after all – Human Remains in Archaeological Museums: Ethics and Display, held at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Emily Hall, Director at Barker Langham, presented her paper What Remains. Drawing on her experience as a curator and museum interpreter, she examined how human remains are used to construct meaning – and whether their display is always necessary to the stories we seek to tell.
Through a series of international case studies, Emily explored the tension between presence and absence, spectacle and sensitivity, and the potential for interpretation to foster empathy without relying on physical remains. Her approach – grounded in practice, but informed by wider debates – makes a clear case for context-led storytelling, creative media, and careful consultation.
In light of renewed public attention to this topic – including the 2025 APPG-AR report recommending restrictions on the display of ancestral remains in UK museums – her contribution continues to resonate across the sector. Thoughtful interpretation, she argues, is not only ethical practice – it is better storytelling.
