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I decided if I was going to apply for the assistant curator job it'd be a good idea to learn a bit more about current thought in museums so I checked out a few books from the SOAS library to read. The New Museology was written back in 1988, so it did seem a little dated being almost 20 years old but it was also written mostly by people that work in the V&A, or in SE England universities so for that reason it was very relevant.
There were some interesting debates within the book as to how museums should be viewed, and how you satisfy the needs of the visiting public. It was interesting that, for the most part, it seemed to be discussing marketing strategies, how do you design your museum and displays so that the visitors get the most out of them. It looked at the issues of visitors gaining enjoyment versus knowledge from visiting museums. It was interesting to see English museums portrayed as places of education rather than enjoyment, one essay compared this with the French who, apparently, see enjoyment as a larger part of their experience. I think this trend has been changing. I think museums are trying to make it more fun to visit them, hence all the interactive games and things you find, and even the paddling pool in the garden at my work. I think the book must also have been written before the advent of audio tours. I have to say I'm not terribly fond of audio tours, I think museums should be more of a social experience, interacting with the objects and surroundings and with the people that you are with. Whereas audio tours kinda turn people into zombies, in Berlin there was a very good section on the audio tour about the Ishtar Gate, they talked about all the archaeology involved, and reconstruction and the history of it getting to the museum and being displayed. Altogether I probably listened for about half an hour. But some are just so boring and patronising. But I digress..
It was interesting that really only in the last essay did the issue of social class and pretentiousness come up in regard to museums, there they talked about yuppies that started hanging out in museums cause they thought it would help their social ambition. Blah! There is definitely a perceived level of snobbishness I think involved in spending lots of time in museums, but I don't think there needs to be. I think if you make it interesting enough then it will have a broader appeal, and people will be looking at things because they are genuinely interested or fascinated rather than just trying to be pretentious.
One example that was particularly interesting was in an article about the presentation of objects and the making of museums was about the "Degenerate Art" (entartete kunst) exhibition from Germany 1937, which was a very clever piece of Nazi propaganda trying to point out all the bad, and Jewish, influences in modern art. Guards were posted to make sure people didn't enjoy it too much. It sounds like it would have been amazing to see, for all the wrong reasons. I shall have to look to see if we have the exhibition catalogue at work.
The book was fairly interesting and gave me quite a bit of insight into the world of museums. It didn't scare me off and think it would still be an interesting career path. Hopefully I'll manage to get through the other books quickly and be able to sound interested and informed enough at the interview. (If I make it that far).
There were some interesting debates within the book as to how museums should be viewed, and how you satisfy the needs of the visiting public. It was interesting that, for the most part, it seemed to be discussing marketing strategies, how do you design your museum and displays so that the visitors get the most out of them. It looked at the issues of visitors gaining enjoyment versus knowledge from visiting museums. It was interesting to see English museums portrayed as places of education rather than enjoyment, one essay compared this with the French who, apparently, see enjoyment as a larger part of their experience. I think this trend has been changing. I think museums are trying to make it more fun to visit them, hence all the interactive games and things you find, and even the paddling pool in the garden at my work. I think the book must also have been written before the advent of audio tours. I have to say I'm not terribly fond of audio tours, I think museums should be more of a social experience, interacting with the objects and surroundings and with the people that you are with. Whereas audio tours kinda turn people into zombies, in Berlin there was a very good section on the audio tour about the Ishtar Gate, they talked about all the archaeology involved, and reconstruction and the history of it getting to the museum and being displayed. Altogether I probably listened for about half an hour. But some are just so boring and patronising. But I digress..
It was interesting that really only in the last essay did the issue of social class and pretentiousness come up in regard to museums, there they talked about yuppies that started hanging out in museums cause they thought it would help their social ambition. Blah! There is definitely a perceived level of snobbishness I think involved in spending lots of time in museums, but I don't think there needs to be. I think if you make it interesting enough then it will have a broader appeal, and people will be looking at things because they are genuinely interested or fascinated rather than just trying to be pretentious.
One example that was particularly interesting was in an article about the presentation of objects and the making of museums was about the "Degenerate Art" (entartete kunst) exhibition from Germany 1937, which was a very clever piece of Nazi propaganda trying to point out all the bad, and Jewish, influences in modern art. Guards were posted to make sure people didn't enjoy it too much. It sounds like it would have been amazing to see, for all the wrong reasons. I shall have to look to see if we have the exhibition catalogue at work.
The book was fairly interesting and gave me quite a bit of insight into the world of museums. It didn't scare me off and think it would still be an interesting career path. Hopefully I'll manage to get through the other books quickly and be able to sound interested and informed enough at the interview. (If I make it that far).
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