>On Thu, 20 Oct 1994 Ken Yellis wrote (in part):
d history and science museums are now starting to catch hell.
>>
>.......it seems to me that exhibits are different from
>lectures in courses or even entire courses.  Professorial freedom entitles
>faculty to think and teach what they want, I guess, and the university
>should defend that.  But at some level, at least, in an exhibit, it is the
>museum, not the curator,that is speaking......
>I don't disagree with any of this, but I do think we have to recognize
>that this is probably the only exhibit any institution will ever do about
>the Enola Gay and it is certainly the only exhibit about it that most of
>its visitors will ever see.  That has to affect the institution's thinking
>about how the way it is handled
 
Ken and Amy Douglas bring up good points that reflect the scope and
influence of this particular exhibit and a particular institution. It
brings up another point : are there different approaches or methods in
museology that should apply to specific cases and institutions? The cry for
museum standards has been ongoing and, in part, defined the need for an
AAM. Yet, are we seeing that standards do not always apply? Accepting the
need for an institution as influential as the SI to program with a national
or international image in mind, or that a unique exhibit creates a
particular set of needs, how much of this discussion relates to most
museums and exhibition decisions?
 
Can small museums base their exhibits on curatorial perogative while there
is a different standard for large museums? Should the concerns of large
museums be brought to bear on smaller museums? The limits of the
lecture/course-freedom analogy works but truly many small museums and their
communities rely on the insights and expertise of their curators who need
the freedom to challenge existing views or to present unpopular new
perspectives as part of the cultural growth process. Aren't we still
searching for a more perfect union that is born from experimenting with
different methods? Maybe the search for standardization will remain
elusive.
 
Paul Apodaca
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