Walking the Museum - Performing the Museum

The article examines the performative aspects of the exhibition Olafur Eliasson: Riverbed (2014) in order to qualify and evaluate participatory modes of curating, doing research, and learning from art in museums. The article develops a theoretical approach to exhibitions as spaces for social and corporeal practices, where affectivity is enacted and social relations may be transformed. The article examines how the participatory design of Riverbed produces affects that are inherently performative, relational and political. The article analyses how the visitors are affected and moved by the exhibition to put into operation alternative ways of knowing, connecting and being together in museums.