Dear Reine Hauser et.al.,

you elaborated beautifully on the main problem of the main tasks of
museums, serving the collection, serving the public, about what could be the
basis for evaluating a museum or an exhibition.

I do think that this is the problem: The world of museums might have not
brought forward a reasonable evaluation scheme for their own efforts, a
scheme which is clear to the management and employees AND to the museum
holder AND to the public.

In business it is easy: It is the client who makes the evaluation by buying
the stuff offered - or not. Therefore, lacking other evaluation schemes, the
public (the media and "nice" colleagues of other museums) puts the same rule
of thumb for the exhibitions: more visitors - better product (exhibition).

If we want to have it differently, then we have to find a realistic and
accepted evaluation scheme for the museums and/or exhibitions, maybe in
variations for different kinds of museums and exhibitions (art, technology,
history, nature - big, small  etc.).
It would also be nice to have it to challenge the staff to achieve this
common goal.

But, currently, it seems to the public that we shift (coyly) between being
proud that so many visitors came to one exhibitions and for the next
exhibition, where nobody comes, we blame the press or hold up the eternal
flag of culture or conservation or collection or education etc.

Since this task seems too complicated - and nobody really wants it (even the
studies of museology would hate it!!! - Therefore, it is no science
!?!?!?) - we have to live with the dichotomy.

Greetings from museum covered Austria,

Peter, the evaluating Rebernik

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-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Reine Hauser <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
An: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Datum: Donnerstag, 29. Juli 1999 19:11
Betreff: Re: MFA-B in the NYT


>>
>>"resulting in more exhibitions whose broad public
>>appeal is their main virtue"
>>
>.....  If the ONLY thing museums need be concerned with  in
>selecting exhibitions is broad public appeal, and they charge an adequate
admission fee to turn a profit, then why should museums be non-profit at
all?  Why don't we leave this exhibition business up to the private sector?
>
....
>  For starters, sometimes the public isn't aware of or knowledgeable about
>an exhibition of work they might very well end up liking.

....There was
>a tiny audience for modernist American art prior to the Museum of Modern
>Art's national education programs during the 1950s and 1960s.  It then grew
>substantially.  MOMA's programming didn't change (...), but the public was
>given a chance to understand it--resulting in the large crowds we see there
>today--as at many other museums nationally and internationally that present
>this sort of programming.  This is where curatorial expertise can be of
>tremendous benefit to the general public.
>
>Secondly, why do ALL exhibitions have to have broad popular appeal? ....
But does a
>smaller crowd mean that it's inferior?  If so, then all small museums
>should be shut down immediately-- ....
>
>And the whole notion of collections and holdings--if a broad audience isn't
>interested in them--why bother?  It costs a lot of money to maintain
>collections.
>
....
>And is there a difference between "consumers" and the "public" in terms of
>museums?
>
......
>
>Best--Reine Hauser
>

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