Alternatively, the person or group acknowledged as a legitimate representative may wish that the museum could continue to hold an object for the benefit of the other party." (Boyd, nd; p. 196) in this instance there should be clarity in the "terms and responsibilities of such holding..." (Boyd, nd; p.196) Boyd relates that in a museum that is 'collection-based' deaccession is an issue that is "exceedingly contentious" (p. 196) in nature, and in fact "much more so than the decision to acquire." (p. 196)
IV. DEFINITION of a MUSEUM & REFINEMENT of COLLECTIONS
Boyd relates that museums are "more than repositories; they are places where collections are interpreted for the public through exhibits and related educational programs." (Boyd, nd; p.199) it is important to note the statement of Boyd that the museums interpretation of their collections "changes over time with the emergence of new 'techniques, scholarship, and viewpoints.'" (Boyd, nd; p.199) Furthermore, Boyd notes that the extent of interpretations in museums in the United States is experiencing rapid expansion as "museums see their mission changing from offering a passive venue for the already educated to being active center of learning for a public of diverse educational and cultural backgrounds." (Boyd, nd; p. 199) Boyd states that limiting the number of displays and exhibitions is somewhat contrary in that museums rarely explain to the public how the choices have been made as to what is and is not exhibited by the museum. Boyd relates the statement of Lonnie Bunch as follows: "Museums would be better served if they explained to the public why history museums explore social history that includes difficult questions of race, class and gender, or why it is important for art museums to examine artists whose work challenges community norms and expectations. It is not enough to say that we 'know bets'...[M]museums can teach visitors more about points-of-view, the scholarly underpinnings of museum works, and the inherent fluidity of museum interpretation. As the clothing store advertisement extols, "An educated consumer is our best customer." (Bunch, 1995; as cited in Boyd, nd; p. 201) Boyd relates that museums should be "affirmative in reaching out for diverse perspectives. In doing so, museums will improve the quality of exhibits and reflect the multiplicity of views present in a pluralistic democracy. Those selected to create the exhibit should include representatives of the diverse groups whose cultures and environments are reflected in the exhibit." (Boyd, nd; p.202) it is important to recognize that within the group there will conflicting points-of-view and "principal centers of the group may live at a great distance from the museum." (Boyd, nd; p. 202)
V. The MUSEUM'S POWER of REPRESENTATION
The work of Shilton and Srinivasan (2006) entitled: "Participatory Appraisal and Arrangement for Multicultural Archival Collections" states that the "power to represent has been wielded by information institutions throughout history, and the manifestations of this power have helped to build societal definitions of much of what we understand as culture. This power applies not only to museums, but also to the institutions of culture and preservation that we know as archives, manuscript libraries, and special collections." (2006) Shilton and Srinivasan note the work of McKemmish, Gilliland-Swetland and Ketelaar who wrote: "Frameworks for the selection, collection, arrangement and description, preservations and accessibility of archives are...closely linked to societal processes of remembering and forgetting, inclusion and exclusion, and the power relationships they embody." (2005) Some documents are chose by the archivists and others are discarded with the archivists "using the power of appraisal to consciously or unconsciously assert chosen narratives as truths and ignore or reframe others." (McKemmish, Gilliland-Swetland and Ketelaar, 2005) Through the manner in which acquisitions are arranged and described the archivists "...impart narratives and knowledge structures to explain the relationships among records in a collection." (McKemmish, Gilliland-Swetland and Ketelaar, 2005) it is inevitable according to Shilton and Srinivasan that the "assertion, ignoring, or reframing of narrative that accompanies archival appraisal, arrangement and description is inevitable." (2005)
No matter how diverse archivist teams there is no way to choose all documents or describe all the collection's knowledge or to represent all truth and experiences represented in a collection. The work of Couture (2005) is noted as stating that archival appraisal "...must ultimately offer comprehensive evidence of societal actions and conditions." Shilton and Srinivasan state that "comprehensive evidence too often does not cover a diversity of racial and ethnic communities, and has not included marginal narratives from migrants, refugees, or diasporic communities. Instead, memory institutions have alternately ignored experiences outside of the history of the powerful, creating collecting gaps within archives, or lifted the histories of marginalized communities and applied arrangements...
Museum Methods museum is usually a non-profit organization with intent to provide education and enlightenment by the organized collection, preservation, interpretation and exhibit of items deemed to be of interest to the public or community. Historically, museums have evolved as collaborative projects to house collected works gathered for the appreciation of the current and future generations in our society. However, such definitions cannot be regarded as the last word on
With the sole exception of a permanent exhibition room solely devoted to the work of Joseph Beuys - widely considered to be among the most important German artists of the post-war period - the Hamburger Bahnhof features a fair balance of works by contemporary artists from all over the world. As a matter of fact, many of the more important names of German art from the last few years
museums in order to understand the components of what makes a museums successful and interesting. I've selected the American Museum of Natural History's Hall of Eastern Woodland Plains Indians branch to compare with the National Museum of American Indian. Both of these museums, located in New York City, will help provide a balanced and fair comparison of two similar but not identical museum institutions. I will first describe in detail
Otherwise, modern interpretations fall short of conveying what the significance of an object was for the people and societies that produced it. For example, a museum display can be constructed around medieval objects so that they are viewed in a context most akin to the one under which they were produced. Without such a perspective, a museum piece can become too much about the dimensions and material rather than
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In brief, this painting is essentially a representation of the court of Philip IV and the focal point of the work is the Infanta Margarita who is surrounded by various figures, including her maids of honor, dwarfs and a dog. Las Meninas depicts a large room in the palace of King Philip IV of Spain and most of the figures can be identified as members of the Spanish Court. The
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