About 10 years ago I visited the Native American Museum in lower Manhattan and they were using what you might call "community" labels for some objects, but they were definitely combined with labels from curators and other experts (I think each object interpreted that way had three labels). I found it interesting that in this context the authors of ALL labels were identified after the text (since I am not used to being credited in print on the wall for my own labels).
In 2002, The Hudson River Museum mounted an exhibition on the African American Migration to Yonkers that included oral histories on audio (and some video), both as part of the exhibition and collected for their own sake (now stored and partially available on-line at the Westchester County Historical Society's website). In the exhibition, I used a number of quotes from these oral histories on the walls, in large vinyl as well as with specific objects and photos. Thus, there was a "community" voice, though a "curated" one.
I hope this is helpful info (and that I have used the right method to post--I'm new and never did it before).
Laura L. Vookles
Chief Curator of Collections
The Hudson River Museum
-----Original Message-----
From: Dirk Van Tuerenhout [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 10:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] "community curators"
Dear all,
This past year, the British Museum focused on Africa. There were
displays speficially designed for this topic. In addition, throughout
the entire museum additional (very colorful) labels were added to
permanent exhibit cases. On these labels a person of African origin was
quoted saying why they had chosen that particular object and what it
meant to them. It appeared that any given hall might have had two or
three of these labels.
Labels such as these present a valuable addition to an exhibit by
providing a creative outlet to members of the general public. However,
speaking as an archaeologist, I am not sure if we should have the
general public write context labels for archaeological displays. In my
opinion, people can react in many different and personal ways to an
artwork, yet when it comes to the context of an artifact, one should
defer to the notes of the archaeologist who dug it up or the
anthropologist who wrote down the circumstances under which the object
was used.
Thanks
Dirk Van Tuerenhout
Houston Museum of Natural Science
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Kohut, Lauren
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 8:30 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "community curators"
While I'm not familiar with the program at the Brooklyn Museum of Art,
it is my understanding that the community curator program at the NMAI is
specifically aimed at using Native Americans as curators -- not just the
average layman. The objective is to give Native Americans a voice in
the display of their cultural materials. I know this format was used in
the "Out Universe" exhibit which focuses on how eight different
indigenous groups interpret the "order of the world." And in this case,
the community curators worked with museum curators to develop a cohesive
exhibit that would show more than just objects in the collections.
Lauren
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Chuck Watkins
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 7:57 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] "community curators"
Marieke Van Damme wrote:
>Hello-
>I was just reading my latest issue of the Curator
>Journal (p. 122) about the Brooklyn Museum of Art and
>the National Museum of the American Indian having
>"community curators", that is, "ordinary" museumgoers,
>write the object labels in exhibits. Has anyone done
>this with success/failure? Is there a place I can go
>to learn more about it? I think it is a great concept
>but I'd like to see who else has tried it.
>
>Thanks,
>Marieke
>
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When we were building the Appalachian Cultural Museum, we thought it
important to deal with the subject of mountain blacks, a subject that
had not been discussed before by museums about Appalachia to my
knowledge. To that end, we identified a family, asked them to select
objects and photographs and write interpretive text. There was a
tradeoff. I am sure that some of what was written was family folklore
rather than absolute fact. And some of the text was longish by museum
standards. But the upside was that visitors got to hear the authentic
voices of the people in the exhibit, people who had heretofore been
ignored by museums.The public liked the exhibit and the family held a
couple of annual reunions in the gallery. As my university is about to
close the Appalachian Cultural Museum, none of this matters terribly
now. But if you think about it, it wasn't too long ago that in museums,
especially in museums of history, everyone - the curators, the
collectors and the visitors - spoke with the same voice. So, letting a
few more voices in doesn't seem like a bad thing, especially if they
have something to say that is worth hearing.
Regards,
Chuck Watkins
The Appalachian Cultural Museum
Appalachian State University
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