This study (funded by the University of British Columbia) investigated the nature and character of visitors’ long-term memories associated with their experiences at largescale exhibitions.

The study focused on visitors’ memories of two global exhibitions: World Expo 86, hosted in Vancouver, Canada in 1986; and World Expo 88, hosted in Brisbane, Australia in 1988.The long-term memories of visitors who attended either Expo 86 or Expo 88, were probed through in-depth face-to-face interviews.

The key objectives of the study were to: broaden current understandings of the extent of visitors’ long-term memories associated with these kinds of large-scale exhibitions, provide insights about the themes and character of the memories visitors hold of these events, and provide insights that could be useful for museum staff and exhibition developers to reflect on as they consider their current and future exhibitions.

Full citation:Anderson, D. (2003). Visitors´Long-term Memories of World Expositions. Curator: The museum Journal,46,(4), 401-420 DOI: 10.1111/j.2151-6952.2003.tb00106.x