In article <9511302036.AA12657@host> [log in to unmask] "Mark Ast" writes:
> Is it possible that we might open-up a debate on this issue, which intrigues
> me greatly:
>
> 1) I would appreciate it if other staff would relate interesting or
> problematic experiences on the expression of a viewpoint or any issue ...

I recently visited the Archaeological Museum of Stavanger (AMS) as part
of the ICOM triennial.  A speaker from the museum explained how they
had appreciated a tension between the need, on the one hand, to
tell the truth, make all the evidence available, and allow the visitor
to come to his or her own conclusions, and, on the other hand,
to allow curators and others to put forward theories and tell their
own stories.

The result was a 'museotec' (a blend of the Norwegian for 'museum'
and library) with two temporary exhibition spaces. The 'museotec'
contains the sites and monuments record for the region, the published
reports, and other books, the finds from the region (arranged by time
and function), and resources for children and visitors with disabilities.
The two temporary exhibitions when I was there were on 'Women - from
prophetess to witch' and 'the image of Vikings' (I forget the exact
titles).  The first, especially, was highly controversial, and had
drawn negative criticism (especially for discussing veneration of the
Virgin Mary as an archaeological phenomenon).

--
Patricia Reynolds
Keeper of Social History, Buckinghamshire County Museum / Freelance Curator

16 Gibsons Green
Heelands
Milton Keynes
MK13 7NH
ENGLAND

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