At 10:43 AM 10/15/96 PDT, you wrote:
>Further to Wayne's comment
>
>I assume this means that any institution holding a retrospective of the work
>of any living 'artist', using the term in its broadest definition, is
>'stupid' .  'Costume and textiles' is a major area of human interest and
>creativity, involving ritual, status, magic-working, glitz, glamour and
>aesthetics, so why not celebrate the work of a living designer?  Or is it
>only respectable when its tribal art or a dead artist?
>
>Heleanor Feltham
>Sydney Mint Museum
>15 October 1996
>[log in to unmask]
> ----------
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee Ms. Feltham,

        You have missed the point completely.  Any institution which sells
its integrity and the integrity of its historical exhibit to the highest
bidder has committed a stupid act.  Irregardless of the past prestige or
stature of the institution such an act should not be copied by succeeding
organizations.

        At the Museum of Valor we use military uniforms as key elements of
our exhibits.  Our WWI ANZAC exhibit, for example, uses Australian and New
Zealand "costumes" to great advantage to tell the story of their
participation in the Great War for Civilization.  EXHIBITS! NOT ADVERTISING!
No one purchases the perspective shown at one of our exhibits.

Wayne Hart, Director
Museum of Valor