Museums Matter, written by James Cuno (former president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago) is pretty much what you’d expect it to be – a response to those who believe museums have outlived their usefulness. A wee bit of a stuffy response, as is to be expected.
But, lurking in between the somewhat dry paragraphs, were some thought provoking ideas and questions.
It took me about four hours longer than it should have, to read this book, because I kept putting it down to think about museums I’ve visited and I kept putting it down to ask TW questions about her own museum visits.
How much do you think about the hows and whys of museum displays and organization? Do you ever stop to wonder whether you’re seeing the displays as the curator hopes you are? Do you ever feel like the curator is forcing his (or her) ideas on you, by choosing a particular layout or design? Do you ever feel like you’re being fed propaganda rather than being left to sort ideas and discoveries out for yourself?
If you were going to design a room in a museum, would you select pieces and place them in ways that allowed them to work together to tell a larger story – or would you display them in some other way? When you visit a museum are conscious of the greater story being told through the display choices? Does it really matter to you at all?
And of course, now I’m craving a museum visit (or two.)
If you ever want to have a really interesting museum experience, go with someone who has a degree in museum studies. I did that back when I went to see the Bodyworks exhibit. It added a whole other layer to it because it really forced me to look at HOW things were displayed.