Susan G. Denney wrote:
> I have a question regarding exhibits.  Has anyone had any experience
> with the placement of gift shop merchandise cases (platforms and vitrines)
> within or adjacent to exhibits?  What is the general opinion of this
> practice?  TIA.

When you think about it, gift shop merchandise on display in museum shops
is not all that incompatible with artifacts on display in museum galleries.

Whether acknowledged openly or not, the ideas and artifacts on display
in museum galleries are every bit as merchandised as the rubber tomahawks
and cast amphorae on display at sales counters.

In a consumer culture like ours, it's interesting to wonder just what a visitor
"gets" out of, say, a retrospective on Cezanne which offers Cezannewiches
in the cafe.

Ray
***
Philadelphia, PA
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