Nicholson, Claudia[[log in to unmask]] wrote:
> Although the context and explanatory labeling of any potentially
> controversial object in a museum exhibit can very carefully show why the
> object is not there to be glorified, if the visitor does not read the
> label or pay attention to the context, they can make an incorrect
> assumption.
>
> Once again, I will ask the question:  how do museums really educate the
> public to what we are trying to do?

Do what Hollywood does: make it very clear what's
what, in terms we all understand. Dress the Bad Guys
in black hats, swell the music when a Significant Look
is exchanged, hold the shot on the Table Knife if it's to
become the Murder Weapon...

As long as "labels" and "contexts" in museum exhibitions
are in a vocabulary that visitors and exhibitors both use,
there should be little room for ambiguity or misinterpretation.

Sounds simple, but we all know it's not (we learn/invent the
"shared vocabulary" as we go along...) The challenge for
museums is how to keep this vocabulary useful, rich and
relevant. It's the old dynamic of knowing your audience as
well as your lines, of understanding lighting as well as glamour.

Ray
***
Philadelphia, PA
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