Thank you.  I just tried to come up with a solution that would cover all the
problems.

Hervé

Arlyn Danielson a écrit:

> Dear Mr. Gagnon:
> This sounds like a wonderful and creative solution to your problem.  Using
> such a creative and inclusive approach to exhibit development is definitely
> one way to solving sticky situations.
>
> ----------
> From:   Herve Gagnon[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:   Thursday, January 22, 1998 3:42 PM
> To:     [log in to unmask]
> Subject:        Re: VANDALISING UNPOPULAR STATUES ETC. - using the pieces
> inmuseums
>
> As director-curator of the Colby-Curtis Museum in Stanstead (Quebec), I had
> a chance to do something about that last year, with rather interesting
> results.
>
> The Colby-Curtis Museum is part of the Stanstead Historical Society, which
> has a long tradition of heritage preservation.  When the Society accepted
> the donation of a victorian home where it could establish itself
> permanently
> in 1992, an important faction of traditionalist members of the Historical
> Society felt estranged by the new location, a house most of them had never
> been allowed in when it was inhabited.  So they stayed away from the Museum
> altogether, complaining that they couldn't see the objects that related to
> ordinary people anymore, thet there were only bourgeois victorian objects
> to
> be seen.  Some even demanded to get their donations back.
>
> My solution to this was to involve those members in preparing their own
> exhibition and, therefore, to get part of our public to actually do what we
> do.We held many meetings (some very emotional) and a exhibition scenario
> was
> finally agreed upon.  Committees were formed for each theme, and members
> had
> to select the artifacts and write the texts for the section they were
> responsible for.  At first, they thought glorifying the past would be
> enough
> but they gradually started questioning their own writing, selections and
> actions.  After a 6-month process, the members' room was finally opened and
> was a great success with the more traditional members.
>
> Afterwards, many among the members involved came forward to say how
> difficult it was to 1) decide what to say 2) how to say it 3) who to say it
> to 4) which artefact to use.  Since then, hardly anything has been said by
> members against the Museum.  Next summer, the same teams are invited to
> change the whole content and to keep on changing them at will, so that
> locals get to see what they want to see.
>
> This might not be an ideal solution for every situation, but it sure worked
> in a small-community museum.
>
> Herve Gagnon
> Director-curator
> Colby-Curtis Museum
> 35, Dufferin
> Stanstead (Quebec)
> Canada
> J0B 3E0
>
> Len Hambleton a ecrit:
>
> >         In response to Claudia J.Niclson's  question  ............how do
> > museums really educate the public to what we are trying to do?
> >
> >  I 'd like to suggest to all on the list to consider creating an exhibit
> > illustrating  the process of creating exhibits. This could be placed at
> > the entrance to the museum ,preparing the visitor in hopes to supplement
> > their notions of what is the context .
> > Until I joined the museum field there was always a mystique of how the
> > exhibit originated.Who wrote the storyline ?
> > The Children's Museum of Manhattan I visited a few years ago had a large
> > pyramid constructed of white arborite . Underneath was sheet metal.
> > Magnetic Post-It size cartoons depicted components of a storeyline. The
> > visitor could arrange them and in effect become " curators' for the day.
> > It was a great exhibit on "Hobbies ..Why I Collect."
> > We forget that the internal working flow charts that are second nature
> > to us are not evident to the visitor or at least to most.
> > The Maritime Museum in Norfolk VA is a great museum. For any of their
> > staff on the list who may read this ,please take a bow. The staff,
> > research librarians and volunteers are cheerful and so helpful. It has
> > to be the brightest and most exciting of  museums on the eastern
> > seaboard to visit with a great giftshop for those on the list who love
> > the sea and maritime memorabilia ,all that is there.
> >  I learned of a video in 1992 they created when I viewed their exhibit
> > in one area on the Conservation of the Leif Ericson statue .
> > There were black and white photos along with the video to show behind
> > the scenes and how different departments work. Education- the visitor
> > will appreciate it I am sure if we "let them in on the process" of our
> > craft , we all sometimes  take for granted
> > Yes we are magicians .Smoke ,mirrors and the works ,let's show them and
> > measure the response and share the reults on this list!
> > We as staff members were all offered a case to curate no matter where in
> > the museum we worked.
> >
> > Len Hambleton - Chief Conservator
> > North Carolina Museum of History
> > 5 East Edenton Street
> > Raleigh NC. 27601-1011
> > [log in to unmask]
> > 919-715-0200 x244
> > "Information in the spirit of sharing,catch the wave!"
> >
> > Opinions expressed in this message may not represent the policy of my
> > agency
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Nicholson, Claudia [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > > Sent: Thursday, January 22, 1998 2:06 PM
> > > To:   [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject:      Re: VANDALISING UNPOPULAR STATUES ETC. - using the
> > > pieces             inmuseums
> > >
> > > Harry Needham has raised an interesting point when he noted that the
> > > museum gets accused of "glorifying" Hitler because they show the
> > > decapitated head of a Hitler statue in the museum.
> > >
> > > I ran into the same problem in South Dakota.  An exhibit of a Ku Klux
> > > Klan robe brought a sharp response from some visitors, including one
> > > who
> > > bothered to write her anger.  She accused us of "glorifying" the Klan
> > > because we showed the outfit.  We thought that it would be good to
> > > point
> > > out that the Klan was not simply an organization of the American
> > > South--that it was active in the northern parts of the country too,
> > > and
> > > in the case of South Dakota, went after foreigners and Catholics.
> > >
> > > Unfortunately, many visitors still think that what museums do is
> > > glorify
> > > the past.  Anything that we show, therefore, is out for the public to
> > > see so that they might revel in the ever-upward spiral of
> > > civilization.
> > > 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?  How do we get visitors in a
> > > questioning frame of mind when they come through our doors?  How can
> > > we
> > > get them to question--and then seek to find the answer--when they see
> > > something in our galleries that they think is inappropriate?  How do
> > > we
> > > get them to understand that, at least in history museums, we are tying
> > > to talk about both the good and the bad of the past?
> > >
> > > Claudia J. Nicholson
> > > Curator
> > > Museum Collections Department
> > > Minnesota Historical Society
> > > 345 Kellogg Blvd. W.
> > > St. Paul, MN  55102-1906
> > >   Tel.:  612/297-7442
> > >   FAX: 612/297-2967
> > >   E-mail:  [log in to unmask]
> > >
> > > >