Dear Margaret-Jean, (I presume it is allowed to call you with your first
name)
thank you very much for your refreshing description of the exhibition
"Growing Up and Away". I would like to hear - or read - more stories like
this about why museums or exhibitions are good, not so good, what somebody
liked or not. We all can learn from that.
You didn't give their website, but it was easy to find:
http://www.glenbow.org/musehtm/growing.htm
I support the idea that also museums should use specialists for their
different tasks (like the rest of the world accepted: you wouldn't want that
the engineer of your combustion engine in the car designs the seats of the
same car - or writes the instructions on how to use them - which the often -
too often - seem to do). It should not be the task of a museum scientist to
write the inscriptions, not even to do the exhibition at all.
Peter, the Rebernik
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| PHAROS International - Bureau for Cultural Projects
| Peter Rebernik, Dipl.-Ing.
| Anton Baumgartnerstr. 44/C2/3/2; A-1230 Wien / AUSTRIA
| Tel.: (... 43 1) 667 7375; Fax: 667 2984
| Mobiltel.: (... 43 664) 230 2767
| E-Mail: [log in to unmask]; Web: http://www.rebernik.at
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-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: John Poirier <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
An: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Datum: Sonntag, 10. Mai 1998 13:59
Betreff: Re: Great History Exhibits
>The Glenbow in Calgary, Alberta, Canada has a lovely exhibit called
"Growing
>Up and Away", about childhood in Alberta. You are taken through the lives
of
>several people as you go through the show. They are your guides, starting
as
>children. I liked the show lots. It's artifact rich and very clear, with
>good self-directed activities throughout, and at various age levels. The
>title is fabulous. I complemented a staff person on it. Apparently museum
>staff hadn't been satisfied with their title ideas so an author of
>children's books was contracted to think of a title. Brilliant!
>Wouldn't it be nice to have exhibit texts written by creative writers,
>especially who write clearly for children, instead of by academics who are
>unable to stop looking over their shoulders for someone from their field to
>look down on their attempts to be clear and direct for the museum visitor?
>Not that I get frustrated!
>I am (for now) an interpreter/exhibit coordinator at the Prince of Wales
>Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. This
>is my home e-mail.
>If you want to go to Calgary, make your arrangements with Glenbow
carefully.
>They are trying to limit the time taken with routine inquiries, which can
>overwhelm staff (huge staff and budget cut backs over recent years).
>However, we aren't sure what that means for professional to professional
>stuff like study tours. They have a good web site.
>I think there are direct flights to Calgary from places like Minn.,
>Colorado, and so on, as well as through regular Canadian links. That would
>probably be Toronto for you.
>
>Good luck and have fun with your project. Fun is a good sign that something
>is working well!
>MJ Patterson (Margaret Jean, always been called MJ)
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Gregg Jackson <[log in to unmask]>
>Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
>To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Friday, May 08, 1998 2:01 PM
>Subject: Great History Exhibits
>
>
>>Hello, museum folk --
>>
>>This has been cross-posted to museum-l and museum-ed. Please forgive the
>>duplication.
>>
>>Staff at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis are researching exhibits
>>that focus on personal memory, family history and/or life in the 20th
>>century.
>>
>>We would like your recommendations of exemplary exhibits on these or
>>closely-related topics.
>>
>>Since staff members would like to visit the best of the best, we are
>>particularly interested in exhibits in North America. However, if there
>>are websites of other museums in far distant lands that do a great job
>>with the subject(s) and which convey the feel of the actual exhibit,
>>feel free to mention these as well.
>>
>>Please respond to me directly so as to limit the impact on bandwidth. I
>>will be happy to summarize the responses for the list.
>>
>>Thank you very much for your time and input.
>>
>>Gregg Jackson
>>Librarian
>>The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
>>"Where children grow up ... and adults don't have to!"
>>
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Email: [log in to unmask]
>> Please visit our Web Site at:
>> http://www.childrensmuseum.org
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>
|
