Hi George,

Your address had a typo in it. The website is:

http://www.alternet.org/story/22249/  

While I agree and sympathize with some of the
criticism of the meaning and consequences of
blockbuster exhibitions, I think the push comes from
both the top and the bottom. 

Trustees want to have blockbuster exhibitions to 
generate money that they would otherwise have to give
anyway. Plus they know that blockbuster exhibitions
create all kinds of social capital that is intangible
to most accountants and pays off in other ways (such
as brand development and good PR). 

The public loves large blockbuster exhibitions because
they are entertaining and most people like to be
entertained in their leisure time even if it includes
a learning component. Plus, people go to exhibitions
if they are familiar with the subject-matter on some
level, so it must tap into something popularily known
(like the myth of King Tut).

What I don't understand in this article is the claim 
that museums are primarily research institutions? If
that's all they are, why involve the public at all?
Why not become a think-tank or a research university? 

Gerald Rojek

 
> Pop Goes the Museum
> By Kris Axtman, Christian Science Monitor
> Posted on June 20, 2005, Printed on June 20, 2005
> http://www.alternet.org/story/22249/
> When "The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy"
> exhibit opened in the beginning of June, it
> shattered opening-weekend attendance records at the
> Houston Museum of Natural Science. Visitors from as
> far away as Los Angeles came dressed in full Rings
> regalia and stood in line for hours before the
> museum doors opened, playing medieval instruments
> and swapping chain-mail tips.
> 
> And while no one talks of a wholesale shift from
> highbrow to pop culture, more museums are using the
> kitsch and cachet of contemporary phenomena to help
> balance the books and bring in younger crowds. While
> these shows can be interesting and well done, they
> are often peripheral to a museum's mission, say
> experts...
> 
> 
> George Garner
> Director of Exhibitions
> Center for History
> 808 West Washington, South Bend, IN 46601
> www.centerforhistory.org // (574) 235-9664
> 
> 
> --------
> Celebrate Historic Gardens Month in June at the
> Center for History by visiting the exhibition,
> Gardens, and strolling the beautiful grounds
> surrounding the Oliver mansion.
> 
>
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