My New Favorite Exhibit Title
I don’t know if this exhibit title was intended to make me laugh, but I did and I love it for that.
Munch Ado About Nothing*
While waiting to take off from Tromso, Norway, yesterday, I noticed the neighboring Norwegian plane’s tail was decorated with a picture of Edvard Munch.
Colonial Williamsburg Enactors are Totally Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
While watching The Walking Dead last night, my husband and I came to the conclusion that, come the zombie apocalypse (and it’s coming), we want to be in a survival group with living history museum staff. Because it’s all well and good to be a Navy Seal commando-type, but the people who can churn butter, cure…
I’ve Seen Weirder Combinations…
Last night’s episode of Parks and Recreation had a mini museum scene that definitely felt familiar. Substitute Harrison Bucks for T-Rex Tokens, and you’ve basically summarized my second semester of grad school. (While at the William Henry Harrison Museum) April: I just wanted to say that I really like your museum. It’s weird and sad and unnecessary.…
Cracking Character - The Fun of Being Historical-ish
What happens when living history interpreters allow the lines between the past and present to blur a little? When they don’t break character, but they definitely crack it? I’m always a bit skeptical of living history and (re)enactment experiences. I don’t dislike them by default, but growing up between the Revolutionary War reenactment-happy towns of Lexington…
When Dioramas Explode - “Animal World” at The National Museum of Scotland
It’s no secret that I don’t like traditional dioramas. But apparently I do like it when it looks like traditional dioramas have exploded and scattered animals throughout the exhibit. I like it a lot. Last week I visited the National Museum of Scotland. And it was a lovely, if somewhat predictable, experience until I got…
Bring A Sense Of Curiosity…And Possibly A Switchblade
This excellent cartoon via Poorly Drawn Lines.
Retro References in Museums
A few weeks ago, my students and I were talking about what pieces of current pop culture we thought would have sticking power. What references, songs, movies, and taglines from today will people still be using thirty years from now? Will our future be full of YOLOs, hashtags, twerking, and fetch? Just kidding. Fetch is never going…
Whatever Gets Them Through The Door…
How much do you bet that the person who wrote this Postsecret postcard also downloaded Taken at the Museum?
There Once Was a Cow from Nantucket
I had planned on publishing “Tips for Developing Multi-Language Labels: Part 2” today, but a last-minute museum contract has me writing limericks* about cows instead. *Don’t worry, museum-in-question, they’re not all limericks. Here’s hoping you like knock-knock jokes, too.
Museums Askew 