While reading through Susana Torruella Leval's article, there is this ominousness, of gloom and negativity. She begins her article relating museums to the ancient Greek temples and their relation to the muses, and then quickly delves into "what has caused museums to corrupt from a sacred, scholarly refuge into a party scene?"
While I understand her opinion, I think, in the modern century, it is necessary for museums to multi-market themselves to stay relevant. No longer are the majority of people seeking museums for their ostentatious collections and quiet retreat from the world, but rather, visitors are looking to be entertained and learn about the exhibits in a more interactive and engaging manner. Throwing dinner parties, introducing multimedia, and other innovations are becoming standard to attract new clientele and make them want to come back to spend an evening at the museum. To suggest that this move is bedded in ignorance is, itself, an ignorant and sedimentary assumption. Yes, there should be a hard line balance between higher education and a "party-like" atmosphere, but the two can coincide to create a memorable time for visitors that will make them want to return.
As the article continues Leval's point begins to get muddled and it comes across that her own professional issues while working at the El Museo del Barrio have marred her opinion of how museum's should function and operate within society.
http://www.warholfoundation.org/grant/paper5/paper.html
#ChangeisGood #AndyWarholFoundation #EvolutionoftheMuseum #LearningAndEntertainmentCanWorkTogether #OldHabitsDieHard
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Indications of Museum and Exhibition Excellence
Created by the National Association for Museum Exhibition, "Standards for Museum Exhibitions and Indicators of Excellence" strives to lay out a set of guidelines that determine the best of the best in the museum world. While the standards for a museum exhibition seem rather basic, the indicators of excellence seems to be what really grabbed my attention.
1. An aspect of the exhibition design is innovative.This means no more of the same diorama design, or mannequins dressed and stiffly posed, but rather new interactive components and the introduction of multimedia pieces to make the exhibit unique and attract and involve the audience in a way we haven't seen in the museum community before.
2. The exhibition synthesizes and presents existing knowledge and/or collection materials in a surprising or provocative way.
Audiences want to be challenged and entertained. They don't want to just walk into a gallery space and see the same old recreation. They want that "shock and awe" value that encourages repeat clients. Why not juxtapose a weapons collection with flowers? Play rock music in a modern art gallery? Be creative and expose the art rather than treating it like a scientific specimen to merely be studied and seen from afar.
3. The exhibition evokes responses from viewers that are evidence of a transforming experience
We want our visitors to have a personal and strong reaction. No more of the "it was alright" or "not bad" but a strong evocation of feeling. "My breath was taken away" or "I was shocked to see an exhibition designed like that," something that shows that we have engaged our visitor, invited them into the exhibition and allowed them to create an unforgettable experience.
These are just a few of the numerous points that NAME describes and I think it is incredibly crucial that we as museum professionals continue to strive for evolution in our design and execution of exhibits to gain a larger audience and create a truly memorable experience. By incorporating new media, music, and other aspects into the exhibition we are pulling the presumed "archaic" world of museums into the 21st Century and pushing them to the forefront of entertainment. And hey, you might just learn something while you're there.
http://name-aam.org/about/who-we-are/standards
#MuseumExhibitInnovations #NAMEStandards #MuseumsAsEventHotSpots #ExhibitsAndMediaUnite #DareToChallenge
1. An aspect of the exhibition design is innovative.This means no more of the same diorama design, or mannequins dressed and stiffly posed, but rather new interactive components and the introduction of multimedia pieces to make the exhibit unique and attract and involve the audience in a way we haven't seen in the museum community before.
2. The exhibition synthesizes and presents existing knowledge and/or collection materials in a surprising or provocative way.
Audiences want to be challenged and entertained. They don't want to just walk into a gallery space and see the same old recreation. They want that "shock and awe" value that encourages repeat clients. Why not juxtapose a weapons collection with flowers? Play rock music in a modern art gallery? Be creative and expose the art rather than treating it like a scientific specimen to merely be studied and seen from afar.
3. The exhibition evokes responses from viewers that are evidence of a transforming experience
We want our visitors to have a personal and strong reaction. No more of the "it was alright" or "not bad" but a strong evocation of feeling. "My breath was taken away" or "I was shocked to see an exhibition designed like that," something that shows that we have engaged our visitor, invited them into the exhibition and allowed them to create an unforgettable experience.
These are just a few of the numerous points that NAME describes and I think it is incredibly crucial that we as museum professionals continue to strive for evolution in our design and execution of exhibits to gain a larger audience and create a truly memorable experience. By incorporating new media, music, and other aspects into the exhibition we are pulling the presumed "archaic" world of museums into the 21st Century and pushing them to the forefront of entertainment. And hey, you might just learn something while you're there.
http://name-aam.org/about/who-we-are/standards
#MuseumExhibitInnovations #NAMEStandards #MuseumsAsEventHotSpots #ExhibitsAndMediaUnite #DareToChallenge
Thursday, September 12, 2013
The DIA to the Rescue...
Unlike most modern day museums which stand on their own as a non-profit entity, the Detroit Institute of Art has been a city run and endorsed institution. Following the ups and downs of the city, the DIA has constantly faced challenge after challenge head on in the pursuit to stand as a landmark not only for the city and state, but as an international epicenter of culture and preservation. With Detroit now facing a bankruptcy in the tens of millions of dollars, the emergency manager is looking to the DIA as a potential source of revenue. By selling of a plethora of the museum's collections, the EM hopes to come closer to balancing the cities budget and put Detroit back on track. But could saving the city be killing one of it's most valuable entities?
The DIA has always bridged the gap of technology and "higher" education with the rough, urban culture of Detroit. Working hard with the numerous neighborhoods that make-up Detroit, the DIA has become a center of gathering. Not only do people come to see the museum and it's esteemed collections, but people come as a refuge. Kids who after school have no place to go can find a safe, comfortable environment within the museum walls and participate in numerous activities and events the museum is consistently sponsoring. Music fills the halls of masterpieces during the evenings making the museum almost the "hip" place to be.
By selling of the collections and treating them as just anonymous collateral, the city of Detroit is demeaning the reputation and purpose of the museum, as museums are established as a cultural preservation and learning tool, but only truly survive and grow through the partnership of their communities. "Sold" could be the new label under the 18th century China pieces as if nothing more than a piece of salvage metal. "For Sale" Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "The Wedding Dance" waiting to be moved to an anonymous home and lost in records. It is crucial that these culture pieces be preserved, not only for research and curatorial purposes, but for the pure enjoyment of the public masses. To privatize a collection through it's dismantling among elite buyers would be archaic and petty.
Why not have a night of profit from a Detroit Tigers game be donated to the city to improve the budget? Or perhaps fundraiser evenings at the DIA or the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with proceeds going to balancing the budget and preserving the great culture of Detroit? Have the Motown Museum host such Michigan natives as Jack White, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper, Tim Allen, Eminem and/or Diana Ross (to name a few) to help save the city from a corporate, totalitarian demise?
Much can be done to save Detroit, but parting out culture institutions like a gutted animal is the most barbaric means possible.
http://www.freep.com/article/20130908/ENT05/130905007/DIA-in-peril-museum-s-relationship-Detroit-politics-finances
#DIACollections #SavetheCity #ArtisCulture #DetroitHistory #SavetheMuseum #PureMichigan
The DIA has always bridged the gap of technology and "higher" education with the rough, urban culture of Detroit. Working hard with the numerous neighborhoods that make-up Detroit, the DIA has become a center of gathering. Not only do people come to see the museum and it's esteemed collections, but people come as a refuge. Kids who after school have no place to go can find a safe, comfortable environment within the museum walls and participate in numerous activities and events the museum is consistently sponsoring. Music fills the halls of masterpieces during the evenings making the museum almost the "hip" place to be.
By selling of the collections and treating them as just anonymous collateral, the city of Detroit is demeaning the reputation and purpose of the museum, as museums are established as a cultural preservation and learning tool, but only truly survive and grow through the partnership of their communities. "Sold" could be the new label under the 18th century China pieces as if nothing more than a piece of salvage metal. "For Sale" Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "The Wedding Dance" waiting to be moved to an anonymous home and lost in records. It is crucial that these culture pieces be preserved, not only for research and curatorial purposes, but for the pure enjoyment of the public masses. To privatize a collection through it's dismantling among elite buyers would be archaic and petty.
Why not have a night of profit from a Detroit Tigers game be donated to the city to improve the budget? Or perhaps fundraiser evenings at the DIA or the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with proceeds going to balancing the budget and preserving the great culture of Detroit? Have the Motown Museum host such Michigan natives as Jack White, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper, Tim Allen, Eminem and/or Diana Ross (to name a few) to help save the city from a corporate, totalitarian demise?
Much can be done to save Detroit, but parting out culture institutions like a gutted animal is the most barbaric means possible.
http://www.freep.com/article/20130908/ENT05/130905007/DIA-in-peril-museum-s-relationship-Detroit-politics-finances
#DIACollections #SavetheCity #ArtisCulture #DetroitHistory #SavetheMuseum #PureMichigan
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