Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Critical Museum Musing on YOUtube

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE SITE
There is now a whole new discourse relevant to museums that is more inclined to be blatantly and incisively critical. It seems that the sacred cow is dead! This exemplar is funny, troubling and insightful. Well worth a watch!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

MUSEtools

CLICK HERE TO BUY AN iPHONE
So you decide to go to a museum and do a bit of musing and the labels on the exhibits are not all that helpful. Well if you go with an iPHONE (or something similar) you'll be OK. What it will enable you to do is:

  1. Call a friend who MAY be more help than the labels;
  2. Take a picture for future reference and/or to send to your friend/s if she/he/they need more information – but remember its uncool to use the flash or to use the images you take for anything other than personal use or research;
  3. TWEET someone to tell them where you are and what you do not know;
  4. Consult Wikipedia, the chances are it will be able to tell you what you need/want to know;
  5. Call up the museum's curator for the collection – but the chances are they'll be busy doing something else;
  6. Do a GOOGLEsearch as you'll surely discover things the collection manager probably hasn't had the time or inclination to look for;
  7. Check the WEATHERforecast for Mongolia just for fun and wherever you are because it might be raining outside soon;
  8. Check the time to see how much longer you can stay in the museum;
  9. Calculate the dimensions of the exhibit;
  10. Visit the MUSEUMwebsite to see if it has any additional information or can tell what time the coffee shop opens;
  11. Record the sound of the place for whatever reason;
There'll surely be other things you can do with such a MUSEtool and if you'd like to pass your ideas on it will be much appreciated by MUSEUMcommunities as guidance for future program development. Please leave your suggestions as a comment below!

Reality Hacking


CLICK HERE TO GO TO SOURCE
Reality Hacking goes pretty much undefined and is perhaps undefinable. As a muse there is much to muse upon and especially why it is:
  • that some projects remain as "pending"
  • others are"lost"; and
  • just who it was who had the wit and wisdom realise the great many projects that have been in the most ordinary and extraordinary places between May 1995 up to the preset.
What's to come?

Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Dutch Are Serious About Cultural Tourism & Their Museums

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SOURCE
 17th-century floral splendour at Rijksmuseum Schiphol Following the 'Dutch Winters' exhibition, the Rijksmuseum annex at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol now presents another characteristic aspect of the Netherlands, namely flowers, in the 'Dutch Flowers' exhibition from 21 March to 25 June 2012. Nine exuberant ‘flower pieces’ from the museum’s collection that used to adorn the homes of the 17th-century economic elite are now in full bloom at the airport. Now an everyday item, cut flowers were prized luxuries in the 17th century.Rijksmuseum Schiphol .... Click here to read more

Well if there is any doubt about Mohammad's inclination to visit the mountain then by all means bring it to him at the airport. The Dutch are at the top of the game when it comes to museums and their importance to culture and tourism and visa versa. Also, what a good way to spend time at an airport instead of consuming overpriced 'refreshments' while waiting. Its almost a case of the old being new again with the airport being a destination as well. This exemplar tells us that the dutch a able to talk about their place in the world and proudly.

Rijksmuseum Schiphol is located on the completely renovated Holland Boulevard between Piers E and F in the area beyond passport control. The museum is open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free. The Rijksmuseum Schiphol has a permanent exhibition of works by Dutch Masters from the Golden Age drawn from the Rijksmuseum collection. Featuring a temporary exhibition three times a year, it also offers a contemporary Museum Shop with Dutch Design and Rijksmuseum souvenirs.


ING is the exclusive sponsor of the Rijksmuseum Schiphol.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Why is it that the Netherlands seems to be the leader in current museology?

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The Museum's BLOG
Museum & curatorial practice as it emerged during the twentieth century is being  recast and reimagined – and extensively. The tremendous changes to the status of the object, the ways culture is understood, the ways various 'disciplines' interface, the ways information and education is delivered, alerts us to the inevitable transformation of 'the museum' in its 21st C context – and in consequence the curator’s role, relevance and competences come into question

A renewed interest for curatorial practice has recently emerged within fields such as architecture along with other fields of study. Research, and in particular, research in museums are taking us into new territory as new understandings of the world and the cultures we live within emerge. 

Old(anarchic/outmoded?)perceptions are coming under more intense scrutiny and museums are increasingly looking to engage with their communities of ownership and interest in more proactive ways.

Why is it that the Netherlands seems to be the leader in current museology?

WEBSITE

ABOUT 21st C Curating


"Curatorial practice as it emerged during the twentieth century is being extensively recast. The tremendous change in the status of the object, culture, the various disciplines, information and education, implies an inevitable transformation of the curator’s role and competences. A renewed interest for curatorial practice has recently emerged within the field of architecture."
CLICK HERE TO GO TO SOURCE
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE

Pick 'N Mix #51: 

SNAPSHOT FROM MAY 2012

Posted by Michelle Kasprzak • Thursday, May 3. 2012 • Category: Pick 'N Mix

An article on curating in China asks who gets to call themselves a curator, and the problems that arise when curators have no knowledge of art history and/or cannot perform as critics; when they are just workers performing bureaucracy "not unlike the security guard at a museum". With comments by curator Hou Hanru, and others.
- Keep in mind the comments from the Chinese artist in the previous article while you read this article in The Atlantic, which is a brief profile of Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov, pop singer, jewelry designer, and now (of course!), curator.
- The Guggenheim is embarking on a major project, the "Guggenheim UBS Map Global Art Initiative" to "challenge our Western-centric view of art history" in contemporary art. A laudable initiative, or a cynical exercise to mine new markets for valuable art? These quotes from Jürg Zeltner, the chief executive of UBS Wealth Management seem to answer that question: "As art is becoming more and more of an asset class, UBS is looking to increase our profile in these kinds of special fields of interest" and "More and more we are refocusing our strategy to reach emerging markets, and this project seemed like a perfect fit." 
- A new book, Curating in the Caribbean, is out on the excellent The Green Box press.
- Want to work with us? We're on the hunt to expand our global team -- check out our call for Curating.info interns and apply before May 9th!

Monday, May 7, 2012

WORLD sillyWEEK 2012



CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Publish or Perish With a Sting in its Tail

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THIS CATALOGUE ONLINE

Click here to go to blurb
Some say everyone has a book in them somewhere but they lack the means (the money mostly) to get it out there into READERland. At the end of the day, new 'Information Technologies', and the globalisation of the publication industry, has done nothing to destroy 'the book'. Rather it has democratised books, and the publication of them, in a way that seeps very deeply into all manner of publication manifestations – and in a museum context, catalogues.


The exemplar above would be totally out of reach for a great many artists or museums not so long ago but now well within reach. The academic adage "publish or perish" has a new sting in its tail because the "there is no money" excuse has pretty much dissolved. So much so as a great many curators, academics, et al now have the opportunity to put their money where their mouth is prone to be – but with nothing in hardcopy or online to back themselves up.


Watch out for the replacement excuse "we do not have the time"it'll often be code for the lack of inclination and at its worst, lack of ability.


The publication options are increasingly voluminous and soon we'll not only be able to go online to do our 'publishing', we'll be able to do it at our local photocopy shop. 


Flying below the radar will soon be seen as not only lazy but also unprofessional. We'll be able to expect professionals in the field to deliver. And, what's more the vanity publishing blight can be answered by the phenomena of universal peer review given that detractors can 'publish' as easily, as often and as prominently in their field, as those with whom they wish to take issue. 


The critical discourse no longer has gatekeepers that cannot be circumnavigated!

Ray Norman