
KHS exhibit explores how Kentucky's founding has been remembered
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Historical Society has unveiled a new exhibit examining how the state's early settlement and founding have been remembered, celebrated, and recontextualized throughout history, according to WUKY 91.3 FM.
The exhibit, titled "From Revolution to Statehood," uses artifacts, art, and an intentionally empty display case to explore Kentucky's founding narrative. The inclusion of an empty display case represents a curatorial choice to highlight gaps in historical records or narratives that have been overlooked or deliberately omitted from conventional accounts of the state's origins.
The Kentucky Historical Society, located in Frankfort, maintains one of the nation's most extensive collections of Kentucky historical materials and regularly develops exhibitions that examine the state's complex past. The new exhibit adds to ongoing efforts to provide more nuanced perspectives on how historical events have been interpreted and presented to the public over time.
By combining tangible artifacts with artistic interpretation and negative space, the exhibit invites visitors to consider not just what is displayed, but what is absent from traditional historical narratives. This approach reflects broader trends in museum scholarship toward more inclusive and critically engaged presentations of state and regional history.
The exhibit is open to the public at the Kentucky Historical Society's facility in Frankfort.