On Wed, 19 Oct 1994 14:25:24 -0400, John Strand wrote: >Thanks to Gary Noonan for raising the question of "balance" in the >Smithsonian's exhibit that will deal, in part, with the history of the >Enola Gay (no one else has seen it yet, either; it hasn't opened). One >problem may be the impossible task of achieving editorial balance in a >public exhibition on a topic of even modest controversy. Since the >definitions of appropriate balance will be virtually numberless, I myself >argue for the freedom--and the courage--of the curator to present an >intelligent, informed, and hopefully challenging viewpoint on a topic. In >this model, the curatorial process is one step in what is closer to a >public debate. And it need not be one-sided: there are options for the >public to respond, disagree, challenge--i.e., strike its own balance. > >John Strand >Editor/Publisher >Museum News >American Association of Museums >202-289-9124 Even if the exhibit were signed by the curator -- and I don't think NASM does that -- it is the MUSEUM, not the curator, that presents the exhibit, and the Smithsonian at that. Surely that makes some kind of a difference. Moreover, think of who goes there: Almost everybody from just about everywhere. None of us can make any assumptions whatever about what knowledge they bring with them, their ability to evaluate critically what they see and read and to put it into context, what the traditional viewpoint that is being revised even was, and so on. At the risk of sounding like Jesse Helms, I'm not convinced the veterans groups were so very out of line. After all, even if you put out a comment book in which I can register my anguish at what is exhibited and how it is interpreted, the exhibit is still up when I leave the building, essentially unchanged and with the weight of the Smithsonian's authority behind it. Ken Yellis Assistant Director for Public Programs Peabody Museum of Natural History 170 Whitney Avenue Box 208118 New Haven, CT 06520-8118 [log in to unmask] (203) 432-9891/9816(fax)