Hi Darryl, > Thank you Jeremy, but who is to say that > 'unauthorized' tours don't already > occur, and have for the entire history of museums? Just to clarify, I am entirely in favour of 'unauthorized' tours. I was using the term simply to distinguish them from the official tours produced by museums themselves. Jeremy. --- Darryl MacKenzie <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Thank you Jeremy, but who is to say that > 'unauthorized' tours don't already > occur, and have for the entire history of museums? > > Person A brings her family to the museum, and rather > than take a tour with > someone 'authorized' to give tours, leads her > children through the museum, > telling them about her views on the objects. She > relates to them stories > about her grandmother who helped make the butter on > the family farm. She > tells about her grandmother's youth, and how she > used to climb trees where > the local mall now stands. A few months later, her > husband takes the > children through the same museum. His stories and > how he relates to the > collection is going to be different than his wife's. > The children each will > synthesize the two presentations into their own > unique method of interaction > with the collection, which they will share with > their classmates at future > visits to the museum. > > I can see museums offering a recording/downloading > site upon entering the > museum eventually. Who cares if the tour is > 'authorized'? Who gives museum > professionals the right to say they are the only > people with valid views > about the meaning of the collection? The curator is > there to facilitate the > community's discussion around its history and > culture, not indoctrinate what > the community's beliefs about their past should be. > How can a curator, who > might often come from outside the community, say > that they have a better > understanding of the community's past and tell them > how they should be > relating to that past? I suppose my views about > museums are different in > that I see them as a community space for sharing > stories. They are the place > where the community can develop a shared sense of > identity, and the more > safe the community feels in being able to share > those thoughts, the more > healthy the community becomes as it faces common > problems in the future. > > Darryl > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Museum discussion list > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf > Of Jeremy > Sent: March 5, 2006 2:00 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] "community curators" > > --- Darryl MacKenzie <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > A type of community curatorship that I have heard > > about as well is the use > > of iPods as interpretive tour guides through a > > museum. > > These links all relate to 'unauthorized' audio > guides > of museum collections. They are mostly about > interpretation by 'outsiders' rather than > collaboration between curators and others. > > The initial hype about this started last year, > however > a big problem is that users need to download the > recording before visiting the museum, and it seems > that very few are organized enough to do this. The > idea doesn't seem to have taken off yet. > > Network technologies will in the future mean that > unauthorized guides will be downloadable to phones > or > PDA's while in the museum (linked to the museums > location via GPS) which should make them much more > accessible. > > Actual tours: > > smARThistory > http://www.smarthistory.blogspot.com/ > > MoMA 'unofficial' Audio Guides > http://homepage.mac.com/dave7/ArtMobs/FileSharing52.html > > Take One Museum - BBC museum audio tours > http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/take_one/downloads.shtml > > Gallerycast directory > http://www.gallerycast.com/directory > > Articles about tours: > > Introducing Slate Audio Tours (July 26, 2005) > - The commentary museums don't want you to hear. > http://www.slate.com/id/2123266/?nav=ais > > ArtMobs > - Art Mobs to Remix MoMA (With Your Help) > http://mod.blogs.com/art_mobs/ > > New York Times > - With Irreverence and an iPod, Recreating the > Museum > Tour > http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/28/arts/design/28podc.html?ex=1275019200&en=4 > da0e3ceb749d4e6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss > > Walker Art Centre Blog > Podcasting museum audio tours – the sanctioned and > unauthorized > http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/?p=81 > > Jeremy. > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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