Ok, David. I'll take the bait. I think that interest really does play the
biggest role. For example: I went to go see the Enola Gay just because of the
controversy. I have no interest in aviation, or military history and a
passing interest in American history (I know, I know). I read every word of
the text (didn't much look at the actual Enola Gay) as a museum professional
in an attempt to see evidence of the sanitization process. As a young
anthropologist, I attended the "Ancestors" exhibit at AMNH and spent HOURS
looking and reading. The recent Kimono exhibit at NMNH in DC had me
spellbound and wishing that there was more and more text.

Now, the question remains is how to attract visitors. Of course no exhibit is
going to attract everyone, but we should not adopt the attitude that "not
everyone is going to like it anyway." Although I have said that interest took
me to the Enola Gay, which I had no "interest" in, what really takes me to
exhibits is my interest in controversy. I find controversy stimulating,
intriguing and thought-provoking (much like good dialogue). All of the
exhibits I mentioned above were controversial. The Ancestors exhibit was the
first and last time all of the fossils would be together in part due to that
evil we presumed would last forever - apartheid. The Kimono exhibit centered
on the art of tsujigahana - and the one man who knows how to do it: Itchiku
Kubota. Too many times, the initial idea behind the exhibit is a controversy
of sorts - but the vision of  the curator gets lost during the process and
the result is a stale presentation of what was once a crowd gathering idea.

- Adrienne