Managing permanent residents : The museum as custodian of inspirited heritage

At a time when modern museums seek to be more inclusive members of sustainable communities, many are only uneasily aware of their own permanent residents and uncertain of how best to manage them. This paper investigates inspirited cultural sites and collections in Australia, and looks at the challenge of managing this endangered heritage in an inclusive way. The paper focuses on an inspirited site in Canberra, the National Museum of Australia. The National Museum s spirits bring with them a wealth of intangible heritage that has the potential to contribute significantly to visitors understanding of Australia s social history. However, acknowledging and interpreting this heritage might raise issues associated with differences in belief systems, cultural sensitivities and the prevalence of a modern homogenous popular culture of ghost hunting and ghost tours.