What Do We Do Next? Thoughts on German Museums and Syrian Refugees
How can local German museums best support, engage with, and document the arriving Syrian refugees?
Re-imagining The Unloved - An Argument for Experimental Collections
A few months ago, I sweet-talked (in very poor German) my way into a behind-the-scenes tour of a local museum. As a staff member was showing me around, he mentioned that the collection space was roughly divided into two zones. Zone 1 housed the “valuable” items - the pieces that get put on display and used by researchers. Zone 2…
Inspiration - Object Display At The National Museum of Iceland
Another must-see on my trip to Reykjavik was The National Museum of Iceland. We almost didn’t get to go, but am I ever glad we did. It was gorgeous, interesting, fun, and I may have tried to hide our suitcases so we’d miss our flight and I could go back again. And while I loved the museum…
Slideshow - The Icelandic Phallological Museum
There are so many really bad puns I want to make in this post, but I’ll refrain* because (1) I’m a professional and (2) my mama reads this blog. *I’m still going to make puns. They just won’t be the really bad ones. Some people go to Iceland for the incredible scenery. Others go for…
Nothing New Under the Sun*
The caption in a Wikipedia article on Xoanon: Synthesizing the Lady of Ephesus as Diana Aventina: a Roman marble copy of a Greek replica of a lost Geometric period xoanon (18th-century engraving). An engraving of a copy of a replica of a sculpture. Apparently museums come by the tradition of reusing other people’s good ideas honestly. [Thanks to intrepid world-traveler Patricia Walker, who…
“Museums are Full of Crap”
Well, are they? On a related note, the Field Museum won the title of “America’s Best Restroom” this past fall. Coincidence?
Emotional Safety in Museums
Museums should become safe spaces for unsafe ideas* *Often credited to Elaine Heumann Gurian, but she says it didn’t come from her. Either way, it deserves to be said often. I love the idea that museums can (and should) be safe spaces, but until recently I always thought about that concept in terms of the…
Museums Askew 