Museum International

No 185 (Vol XLVII, n° 1, 1995)

Organizing exhibition space

 C O N T E N T S N o . 1 , 1 9 9 5
~~

Editorial 3 January - March

Dossier: 4 Exhibiting to see,exhibiting to know

Organizirig Philqpe Dub6
exhibition space
A question of time and space PninaRosenberg
Front cover 6
Triangle room with redpuiiit
aiid yelioiu light, 19ô0,by Structuringthe past:exhibiting archaeology
Bruce Nauman
Photo: 0 Giorgi0 Colombo,
9 StisaIz Peasce
-
Milan ADAGP,Paris 1995

The exhibition as theatre Frank deil ûudsterz

Back cover
View of the Musée des Beaux-
14
Arts in La Chaux-de-Fonds,
Creating a context:a challenge to Indian
Switzerland.Design by
Alexandre Luthi,photographs 21 museums ii4.L.Nigai??.
by Bierre Bohrer,Le Locle.
Photo:O Musée des Beaux -
Arts de la Chaux-de-Fonds Exhibit sound design Micbael Stocker
25
Editor-in-Chief: Marcia Lord
Editorial Assistant:Christine Training for a changing profession
Wilkinson 29 Jane H.Bedsio
Iconography:Carole Pajot-Font
Editor,Arabic edition:
The Primates Gallery:tradition meets innovation
Mahmoud El-Sheniti
Editor,Russian edition: 34 at the Natural History Museum in London
Irina Pantykind

Advisory Board Total immersion:new technology creates new

Gael de Guichen,ICCROM
36 experiences Jobsi C.Stickler
Yani Herreman,Mexico
Nancy Hushion,Canada
Jean-PierreMohen,France Making sense of space Raymond Montpetit
Stelios Papadopolous,Greece 41
Elisabeth des Portes,Secretary-
General,ICOM,ex officio
Roland de Silva,President,
ICOMOS,ex officio
Profile 46 When people talked to stones Serge Ranzoiad
Lise Skj~th,Denmark
Tomislav 3ola,Croatia
Shaje Tshiluila,Zaire
O UNESCO 1995
Inri,ountioii 50 Exploring the meaning of life:the St Mungo
Museum of Religious Life and Art Mark O'Neill
Publislied For the United Nations
Educational,Scientific and Cultural
Organization by Blackwell
Publishers.
Authors are responsible for the
Collections 54 Collectors and their museums:towards a specific
choice and the presentation OF the
typology Dolors Fair-6Fosinlleras
fact3 contained in signed articles
and for the opinions expressed
therein,which are not necessarily
those of UNESCO and do not
commit the Organization.The
Features 59 Protecting cultural property
designations employed and the
presentation of material in Musetma
Iniematioiinldo not imply the
expression of any opinion
whatsoever on the part of UNESCO
61 Books
concerning the legal status of any
country,territory,city or area or OF
its authorities,or concerning the 63 Professionalnews
delimitation of its frontiers or
boundaries.
h7lei~zalionnl(UNESCO, Paris), No. 185 (Vol.47,No. 1,1995)
ISSN 1350-0775,'Mzrseu~n
O UNESCO 1995
Published by Blacltweil Publisliers,10s Cowley Road,Oxford, OX4 1JF (UK)and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,M A 02142 (USA)
 STOLEN
Oilpainting entitled La F e m m e aux yeux noirs by Picasso (DoraMaar, 1941):poWait of
n woman with dark qes, wearing a striped red dress and a conical hat.Signed in top left
corner.Stolenfi-oma museum in Stockholm in November 1993.Estimated value:
-
US$& 000,000.(IntelpolStockholm Reference 1P 5-07/9.3/ho)
Photo by courtesy of the ICPO-Interpol General Secretariat,Lyons (France)
Editorial

‘Alnaostnothing displayedin miseui?iswas inade to beseen iia tljeni.M2seuiizspi.ovidearz

expeiieizce of most of the world’sai? aizd ai-tefactsthat does uot bear euefi the remotest
r-esei?iblnnceto what their makers iiatended.’I

And here inanutshellliesthe challengefacing museumsin planningboth permanentand

temporary exhibitions.For although a strict dictionary definitionof theword ‘exhibition’
tells us merely that it is ‘showing’
or ‘display’,
museums recognize that exhibitions have
thefurtherpurpose ofbringing objectandvisitortogetherinameaningfulfashion.Among
the broad range of activities now offered,the exhibition is still the motor that runs the
museum,and the object remains the cornerstone of the exhibition.Exhibitionstyle can
bridge the gdp between modern scholarshipand public knowledge so as to ensure that
museum materials illuminate concepts and insights.In a sense,the very history of
museumsis the history of how variousforms ofexhibition installationhave changed our
perception of what we see.The act of selecting an object and juxtaposingit with others
is far from random,carryingwith it deeper implicationsthat affectthe viewer in a variety
of ways.

The past few years have witnessed significant changes in exhibition conception and
presentation.The scientific,practical and aestheticconsiderationsgoverning the arrange-
ment ofitemsnow demand the sharplyhoned skillsofthe professional designer,and the
role of the curator has come to encompass not only traditional high standards of
scholarship but the ability to innovate with regard to exhibition themes and messages.
The environmentofthe exhibition is ever more sensory,encouragingthe visitor not only
to look and move but to touch,hear,smell and even taste.Frequently designed as
sculpture,exhibitions often stand on their own as works of art,exempliSring skilful
selection and inspired arrangement in order to convey complex notions and achieve a
desired effect.Inthewords ofMichael BelcherofLeicesterUniversity,’theyare conceived
as ‘three-dimensional compositionswhich recognize the importance of solidsand voids
At their best,they convey the designer’s
and strive for satisfactoryspatial relationships’.
intentionwith originality and creativity.In the final analysis,as Belcher points out,they
may be considered for their own worth as well as for the worth of the story they have
to tell,thusreflectingMarshallMcLuhan’sfamoustruism that ‘themedium isthe message’.

To explore these questions in depth,Mzlseunz Internationalturned to Philippe Dubé,

Professor and Director of the Graduate Programme in Museology at Laval University in
Quebec. He was truly the guiding spirit behind this issue’sthematic dossier and w e are
most grateful for his expertise,insight and unfailing good humour.

M.L.

Notes

1. Susan Vogel, ‘AlwaysTrue to the Object in Our Fashion’,

Ed~i6itiiz.gCultwes,Washington,
D.C.,Çmithsonian InstitutionPress,1991.

2.Michael Belcher,Exhibitioizr iit Museums,Leicester and London,Leicester University Press.

ISSN 1350-0775,Mwezm T~zteixatioizul(UNESCO,Paris), No.185 (Vol.47,No. 1, 1995) 3

O UNESCO 1995
Published by Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road,Oxford,OX4 1JF (UK) and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,MA 02142 (USA)
Exhibiting to see,exhibiting to know
Philippe Dtrbé
It is noui acknoiuledged in thefield of
miiseology that the exhibition meciiiirn is
the best means that rnziseiims $nue of
both displa-vingtheir collections togood
effect and transmitting their knoiuledge.
A special issue concerning the utilization
of mziseiim space is thzis indispensable
forprofessionals uiho increasinglyfeel the
need to take stock of a question ruhich is
infact at the uey heavt of miIseum
practice.Philippe DLibé responded most
spontaneoidv to the inuitation to bring
together a number of specialists tuho h a m
looked at uey dijferent aspects of the
mode of communication Lue othenuise
call the exhibition.
4 ISSN 1350-0775,illirseirin iiilmiaTicii7al (UNESCO.Paris),No. 185 (Vol.47.No. 1. 1995)
I’uhlished by I3lackwell I’uhlishers. 108 Cowley Road. Oxford, OS+ 1JF (UR)and 738 Main Street,Cambridge. M A 02142 (USA)
It should,firstofall,be clearlystatedthatthe
language of objects has always been the
most prominentmedium usedby museums.
Sincevery earlyon,thespatialdispositionof
the collectionswhich were to be displayed
for the benefit of visitors proved to be the
most fitting means of transmitting knowl-
edge by providing a simple and direct
readingofa givensubjector relatedthemes,
using material witnesses.Over the past few
decades,museologists have been reflecting
on this cultural trait which is peculiar to
museums,and trying to gauge its theoretical
significance.A quickassessmentoftheideas
prevailing in this vast field of study would
lead us to the fairly safe conclusionthat,in
the final analysis,exhibition signifiespres-
ence,presentation and representation.
Bypresence,w e mean the bringing together
within a given space of a set of material
objectsfor the greaterbenefit of the visitor/
viewer.Thisstatementimpliesthatw e read-
ily recognizethe power of the basic materi-
ais, namely the objects,being exhibited
which imposetheirownlogicinanyprocess
ofdisplay.ThisiswhatPninaRosenbergand
Susan Pearce explore throughvery diversi-
fied themes which,none the less,have the
advantage of throwing light on the expres-
sive qualities of materials which are often
perceived as being inert.The objective is
thus to see how the elements concerned
interactand,once broughttogether,form a
harmonious and,indeed,very expressive
whole, creating an impact which is both
visual and intellectual.
This assemblage can then be organized in
such a way as to expose to view,by means
of a presentation aimed either at study or
pleasure,a very striking overall arrange-
ment.In point of fact,it should be under-
stoodthatexhibition enjoysitsown idioms,
and a greater mastery of the latter’snumer-
ous codes could enable us to show greater
command ofthe art of exhibition.Mohan L.
Nigam and Frank den Oudsten deal with
these aspects,each in their own way,either
by purposely creating a context or by stage
management.Here,one is free to use any
means whatsoever for museum presenta-
tion,not merely a rudimentary or banal dis-
playbut,rather,a spatialorganizationwhich
aims and knows how to communicate.
This being said,the act of exposing to view
encompasses many techniqueswhich not
only fashion the spatial dimension of an
exhibitionbut also add to the existingstore
of knowledge.Thus,John C. Stickler and
Michael Stockerinform us ofnovelexplora-
tory modeswhich by theirvery naturebring
theexhibitionmedium up to dateand,at the
same time,form part ofthe desire better to
communicate.To ensure this latter quality,
which is increasingly required of the me-
dium,Jane H.Bedno takes stock of a
constantly changing profession which has
to adapt to an ever-shiftingcontext.
Lastly,w e now know that exhibition also
means representation,given that the ob-
jects brought together deal with subjects
which,in the end,reveal the intangible
aspects of the assembled whole.W e dis-
cover this thanks to Raymond Montpetit
who delves into the capricious pathways
of the world of signs as concerns both
transmitters and receivers.His overview
was necessary in order to appreciate the
full potential of the vehicle of knowledge
that the exhibitionhas always been.
Such are the avenues which w il
l be ex-
plored inthisthematicissuein orderbetter
to understand, in all its complexity,the
functioning of this museum medium par
excellence.The exhibition is createdsome-
times at great expense and at others with
limitedmeans,forbetter or forworse,and
may or may not be to the liking of the
visitor.As w e shall see,a variety of disci-
plines are behind the reflection which
O UNESCO 1995
 Exhibiting to see,exhibiting to know

began only a few years ago,and a review aware,is governed by the pace ofscientific
ofthese numerousaspectswas a prerequi- discoveries.Science,with its rigorous ap-
sitefor a fullunderstandingofthe scopeof proach based on empirical inquiry,thus
all its different dimensions. came to exercise great influence on modes
of museum exhibition because of its con-
stantly renewed approach to the matter
Towards a history of display being studied.All of which implies that,to
some extent,the cognitiveexperience gov-
A close inspection of tlie exhibition me- erns its mode of presentation and that to
dium in its present form reveals that it has establish the history of inuseography one
come at the end of a long evolutionary must look at the whole spectrum of the
road taken by museums. On even closer sciences which constantly foreshadow its
scrutiny,one quickly realizesthat present- renewal,if not its actual replacement.
day museography is based on a heritage
which is made up of several historical Such a line of reasoning affords general
sequences.Where exhibition relating to interestbecausewhen one comesto realize
the natural sciences,for example,is con- that the different modes of exhibition are
cerned,the initial picture one perceives is governedby modes ofthought,the study of
of three major periods which bear witness the way museum spaceis used becomes an
to as many modes of exhibition. almost philosophical exercise in which
thought patterns,through time, underlie
Thefirstperiod sawtheruleoftheshowcase newmodesofexhibition.Inthisway,seeing
which almost exclusively concerned the iiz and knowing are,in the end,closely inter-
vitromethodsby which collectionsofcurios twinedand the detailed examinationofone
functioned as an irreducible archetype of necessarily tells us about tlie other.
this mode of presentation.Next,the quest
for the authentic and the taste for a more This invitation to take a retrospective look
direct and genuinecontactwith exhibitsled should not,however, lead us to neglect
to the specimenbeing shownalive in lteep- taking a prospective one as well, as the
ingwith in z&o principles,whilstthe enclo- future holds in store surprising discoveries
sure,the case,provides a setting for and as faras museographyis concerned.This is
protectsthe object,namelytheanimal,tobe so not only because of the emergence of
observed.Lastly,this great interestin living
new technologies and their use as
thingsinevitablyledus to go to originalsites
hypermedia,but more so because of a
where, by what is termed an in situ ap- genuine advance which lias taken place in
proach,thenaturalhabitatbecomesthebest the field of knowledgewhich w i
ll result in
place and setting for the visitor to meet tlie
a new approach to matter and a new
object he or she wants to see. apprehension of the world.W e should no
longer explain ways of seeing things with-
Thishistoricalpictureofmodesofexhibiting outexplicitlyreferringtoknowledge.Thisis
nature shows a sequential-but non-linear now an obviousfactwhich a criticaleye can
-progression throughtime.Duringthe past no longerignore,seeingnothingbecauseof
fewcenturies,eachperiod-kzvitro, iiz vivo, lack of knowledge.Lastly,may this issue
in situ- has been the expressionnotonly of provide enlightenmentaboutthemuseum’s
newimperativesofpresentationbut,also,of most prominent means of communication
significantchanges in the field of knowl- and thus assist it to establisha more fruitful
edge,the evolution of which, as w e are relationshipwith the visiting public.
O UNESCO 1995 5
A question of time and space
P n inn Rosenberg
ne toay in Luhich a work is rlispla-yed
influences oirrperception of it aiid OLW
reactions to it. Pnina Rosenberg explains
how the ‘lavguage’of an exhibit is the
resirlt of its environnaenta1 context.The
mithor uiasfor fourteen years curator at
the Museiinz ofJapanese Art in Nava
(ismel)and is cziwently curator at the
National Maritime M u s e u m in Hava. She
has iuritten extensiuely on Japanese art
and is notu doing doctoral research on
the subject of art in the Holocaust.
6 ISSN 1350.0775. içlzrseitm htenzntionnl (UNESCO,Parisi,No. 185 (Vol.47,No.1. 19951
I’ublished by Blackwell I’ublishers. 108 Cowley Road.Oxford,OX4 1JF (LK)and 238 Main Street,Cdmbridge,MA 021.i2(LISAI
Visitors to the two oval roomsat the Musée mightbe perceived inarelativelyshorttime,
de l’orangeriein Paris,which are dedi- whereas a complexthree-dimensionalm m e
cated to Claude Monet’sNyniphéas, find inevitably requires more time. This is of
themselves in the middle of a man-made course a rough generalization,to demon-
paradise.Theyare surroundedby the huge strate the complexity of the matter.
paintings which re-create the artist’sfa-
mous garden at Giverny.Not only are the Intendingto mount an exhibition,a curator
paintingsmasterpieceswhich leave a deep takes into consideration various compo-
impression on the beholder, but their nents,one ofwhich is the spatialorganiza-
mountings and very special environment tion of the items. If the exhibits are of a
are the fmit of the artist’sinitiation and ‘conservative’ character,to be viewed from
conception.When Monet donated the can- a certain distance, this conception w ill
vases to France,he repeatedlyinsisted on changewheneverthe public is asked to be
where and how his works should be more activelyinvolved,to surround,touch
displayed.After many years of negotia- and manipulate the objects.
tions,the Orangerie was chosen as the
appropriate place for his works of art,and This categorizationis slightly arbitrary be-
the twoovalroomswere constructed espe- causeinfactan exhibitiondependsnot only
cially for them. Eventually,these rooms onitscomponentsbut also onitsspecialand
have become a reflection of Monet’sgar- immediate environment.If the exhibition
den,which in turn was designed by the takes place in an established institution,a
artist himself to be a source of inspiration museum or a gallery,the environmentitself
for his many series of Water-lilies.’ already has an implied impact,and commu-
nicates in a certain code deriving from its
The story ofMonet’sNymphéas exhibition surroundings.Thisw ilnotbe the case ifthe
l
place is mentioned here to emphasize the exhibits are displayed outside of what is
importance of a suitable location for supposedtobe theirconventionalestablish-
museological displays.Until the twentieth ment.Japaneseart treasures,for example,
century,most museums were not origi- when exhibited in a native shrine w i
ll de-
nally designated for this purpose.Some of liver quite a different message than if they
them,forexample public buildings such as are on display in a flashy gallery abroad or
palaces,were transformed to accommo- even in a museum of Oriental art outside
date exhibits which were scattered about Japan.Hence,thelanguageoftheexhibition
in a given space.Being a sensitive artist, depends on the environmentalcontextofits
Monet was very much aware of the impor- display.The desired exhibitionhall implies
tance of the spatial organization of the variousconsequencesthatnecessarilyinflu-
exhibits,and his approach serves as an encethedialoguewith the public.Theseare
example to museum curators,designers, not the only factors that the curator has to
architects and all those who deal with take into account. Other factors include
preparation and mounting of exhibitions. selectionofthe objects,the potentialpublic,
their behaviour and reaction,and clear and
Museologists know that viewing an exhibi- easy access to the display.
tion is at least a dual process - visual
perception and duration;the items on dis- Let us return to the two oval rooms of the
play are alwaysviewed throughthe visitor’s Orangerie. Entering Monet’s exhibition,
eye and are grasped during a certain time the visitor leaves behind a busy and mod-
period.Two-dimensionalsmall art objects ern city and finds himself in a calm and
l IINESCO
C. -.
~~~~
~___
1995

meditative environment.The drastictransi-
tion is rather like finding a refuge from the
daily burden in these huge blue-violet-
green-white canvases that envelop the
visitorimmediatelyand transformhismood
in a way that corresponds to that of the
Nynipl~éas. The visitor can approach them
closelyand look at the minute details ofthe
fresco-likepainting or else he is invited to
sit on the benches,which are situated in
the middle of each room,andto grasp the
various compositions as a unique whole.
Each way is complementary to the other.
Although these exhibition rooms were
inauguratedoverhalfa centuryago (1927),
the display is still impressive.Once an
exhibit is based on a good and sensitive
conception,it does not lose its ‘touch’,
even after several decades.
exhibits’
‘Hands-on
IfMonet’sexhibition could be categorized
as a ‘do-not-touch’ one, there are also
displays of a ‘touchme’character,most of
them focusedon technological and scien-
tific processes and achievements. These
exhibitionsrequireanotherkind ofsetting.
Their goal is to enable visitors to walk
through the exhibits,to operate them and
to be a full participant. Although both
O UNESCO 1995
~-
A question oftime and space
kinds of exhibition intend to grant com- Les Nymphéas, Claude nfo)zet.View
plete absorption,they differin theirlevelof fi.onz tjjefirst I D O of~ the
~ Afusée de
consciousness;while ,thefirst one is ofa I’O)-a?zgerie, PafAis.
more spiritual and meditative character,
the other one is more sensuous,and the
‘reward’is more immediate.
The Natural History Museum in London
and other similar institutions throughout
the world create another,more active and
busy, kind of environment. The Israel
National Museum of Science,Daniel and
Matilde RecanatiCenter in Haifa,is a good
example of creating such an atmosphere.
The travelling exhibition AFTfivin the
Explolwtoiiuni (San Francisco), which was
hosted here displayed natural phenomena
as employed by various artists in their
works.It illustrated,for instance,the phe-
nomenon ofthetornadoin an artisticmode
that became an art object in itself. The
exhibitwas situated in a huge room,which
enhanced the very striking impression of
the naturalforce.It gave the spectatorboth
an artistic experience and a better under-
standing of the universe in which w e live.
The ‘installation’was centred in a very
large room in which the indoor objects
transformedthe urban spaceinto an exten-
sion of Nature.It is interesting to note that
the exhibition space had not originally
been designated to serve as a museum.It
7
Pnina Rosenberg
is the historical building of the Technion-
the Israel Institute of Technology,built in
1924 by the famous architect Baerwald,
and was smartlytransformedintoitspresent
function.
Discussingthese two kinds of museums,I
have pointed out that their spatial organi-
zation is quite different. In the first cat-
egory,when the objectsare hung on walls,
the space is almostvacant,and the specta-
tor fills it by moving from item to item,
whereas in the other type ofexhibitionthe
space is 'populated'both by the objects
and the public.Hence,it is the task of the
curatoddesigner to see that the objects
S 0 UNESCO 1095
(sculptures,installations,etc.), flow in har-
mony with their surroundings and the
spectators,and do not function as obsta-
cles or barriers.'
I have based my discussion on two ex-
treme examples. Actually, most exhibi-
tions are somethingin between:art objects
are hung on walls and displayed in or out
of showcases in the free space of a given
building. There is a third category,the
'open-air'museum,whose spatial organi-
zation generates other problems:the ini-
mediate surroundings in nature should
correspond to its featuresyet not be 'swal-
lowed' by it. The curator who organizes
such a display basically confronts many of
the problems mentioned above. He also
needs to be attentive to the delicate rela-
tionship between the objects themselves
and the public.
Originally a museum was meant to be a
place for the Muses.I believe they have to
inspire us as well as our know-howand
experience when w e museologists intend
to mount an exhibitionthatshouldservein
several capacities and be diilce et utile.W
Notes
1. For further information concerning the
history of the installation of Monet's
Nynzpbéas at the Musée de l'orangerie, see
Michel Hoog, ne Nymphéas of Clazrdr Monet
at thiWusée de I'Orangerie,pp. 33-6i,Paris,
Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux,
1989.
2. An interesting discussion on the space as a
conceptualization and categorization appears
in Irmengard Rauch, 'Discourse,Space,
Writing', The AnzericanJ o ~ i m odf Semiotics
[TheSemiotic Society of America],Vol.9,No.
4,1992,pp. 5-9.
Structuring the past: exhibiting
archaeology
S~ismaPenrce
A n exhibition is iu itselfqi object
fiuugbt witb cultiiral meaning and
embodying a seiles of cl~oicesarid re-
iWeipretatiom that have as niucb to do
with the mind of the designer as with the
artefacts o n display. ?%?se choices are
riot hapbazard~but obey an inner-logic,
which is explaiiied by Susali Pearce,
Professor of Mziseiim Studies at the
Uriiveisity of Leicester and Pr-esideîitof
the MuseumsAssociation of Great
Britaiu.She is also the azithor-of siich
pu blicatioîzs as Archaeological
Curatorship (1990,), Museum Studies in
Material Culture (1992,) arid Museum
Objects and Collections(1992),arid
Editor of thejourîial New Research in
Museum Studies.
ISSN 1350-0775,Ilfzrseiriniiztei.izntioim/ (UNESCO,Paris), No.185 (Vol.47,No. 1, 1975)
O UNESCO 1775
Published by Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road,Oxford,OX4 1JF (UK)and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,M A 02142 (USA)
in recent years archaeologistshave come systems,like language,accepted ‘knowl-
to recognizetheirobligationsto the public, edge’,kinship,food,and objects w ill take.
and archaeological exhibitions are an ob- This communicationmaterial must,how-
vious way in which this debt can be ever,be structured according to the soci-
discharged.In general terms,archaeologi- ety’srules ofuse in order to be intelligible
cal exhibitions are very popular with the and useful,so that language is a combina-
public,who appreciate seeing the results tion of vocabulary and grammar,food of
of recent work and enjoy seeing the past rawfoodstuffsand preparedmeals,knowl-
unfold before their eyes.But herein lies a edge of information and interpretation,
range of problematic issues.Whose past is material culture of objects and their use
being shown?How is it being interpreted? categories.This structured body Saussure
How are objects selected for display?And, calleda society’slaizgie.Each actualevent,
how does the layoutof the past within the each spoken or written sentence,each
gallery influence how w e understand it? meal,each object put to its own use,is
drawn from the Ia?zgzie.Saussure called
These issuescanbe presented in a number this usage parole. Any analysis of any
of ways. A substantial body of post-war sequence of events, or of any society,
thinking,which is aimed at elucidating the dependsupon analysisofparole,since this
nature ofcommunicationand of ouruse of is all that is available to us. Our efforts to
signsand symbolsin the broadest sense,is understand the ‘real’ structureof an event,
very relevant and helpful here, because or a human group,are bound to be infer-
writers like de Saussure and Barthes (to ences drawn from collectedpayoole,which
name only two very influential thinkers) may enable us to conle to a view aboutthe
can give us what hithertow e have lacked, nature of the Iangiie.
that is, a range of fundamental theory
about the nature of objects and texts as So if, for example,we apply this kind of
communication systems, through which analysis to the lower Egyptian Gallery at
the discussionof exhibitionscanbe articu- the British Museum,with its giant sculp-
lated.In semiotic terms,exhibitions are tures featuring a head and separate arm
clearly a ‘language’system of their own, from a figure originally intended to repre-
albeit a complex one, which combines sentAmenophis III,we arrive at a number
objects of all kinds,label texts,graphics, of ideas concerning the relationship be-
hardware-likecases and agents like light- tween the object and its presence,and
ing,all put togetherin a specificform.The exhibition in the museum.The range of
subjectis a large (and fascinating)one,but choicesavailable to ancientEgyptian soci-
a tasteris offered here ofsome of the ways ety included the raw material suitable for
in which this analysis might work. creating large sculptures,and the abilityto
directworkers towardsthe skillsnecessary
Saussure’soriginal distinctionscan be ap- to produce such works.In the hZg2le of
-
plied very fruitfully to the material culture thissociety,the localrules thatis a desire
of the past,interpreted in its widest sense to glorify the Pharaoh in imperishable
to include structures,environmentalsam- stone-worked with the availabletechnol-
ples,and so on,and its subsequentlife in ogy to give us,in the parole, the actual
a museum collection and exhibition. He sculpturesas these were originallycreated
showed that each society ‘chooses’from and erected, together with all the other
the large,though limited,range of possi- material culture which ancient Egypt
bilities,theformswhichitscommunication created. b
9
Susan Pemce
A selection of these works has survived to
become part of our past,and as such they
enter the contemporary Zmzgiie of the
modern world.Here the past is worked
upon in the light of contemporarynotions
aboutthe theory and practicesof archaeol-
ogy,which are themselvesdrawn from the
range oftheories and practicesavailable in
the currentintellectualscene.What emerges
is an ancientsociety,as it is representedin
the ‘museumarchive’.This archive is the
resultofa complex interweavingofchance,
opportunity,selective excavation,selec-
tive dealing on the art and antiquities
market,the different interests of scholars,
and so on.
Head and nma of
Amenophis III as
displn-yedin the
gal leg^ of
Egyptian
Antiquities,British
&Iiiseuin, London.
10
This main archive then itself becomes
active in a fresh version of the Znngzie,that
of the museum.Here again it isworked on
in the light of current museum theory and
practice concerning exhibitions,which is
itself,of course,drawn from general cur-
rent theory and practice.The end result of
this complicated sequence of events is the
ancient society as it is represented in the
archaeological exhibition. In the case of
the Egyptian gallery,the result of this is to
concentrate attention upon one aspect of
Egyptian culture, that surrounding the
monumental representation of the Phar-
aoh.W e can see that the whole process
embodies a series of re-interpretationsin
which the actualmaterialis party to a range
of potential representations.
Creation and re-creationof meaning
All this is of crucial significance.The con-
tinual creationand re-creationofmeaning,
by which existing signs and symbols go
towards the making of new ones appears
to be a fundamentalaspect of the way in
which humans understand the world and
come to termswith their place in it. It is an
important part of the imaginative process
by which w e make sense of our common
past and our present activity,and within
this museums and their exhibitions play a
significant role.It follows that every exhi-
bition is a communicationevent in its own
right,a medium thatembraces many differ-
ent media but in which the whole is richer
than the sum of its parts. It is a specific
work ofculture,a synthesiswhose content
may be analysed at a number oflevels and
from a range of standpoints.
Each exhibition is a production,like a
theatrical production,and,like a play,it is
a specific work of culture with game rules
of its own.The seeming obviousness of
-
these points their apparent naturalness-
O UNESCO 1995
 Structuringthe past:exhibiting archaeology

should not blind us either to their impor- tureandPlanning,LondonUniversity.Work

tance or to their historical particularity as in Ontario has shown that, since most
an aspect of traditional modern Western people take the shortest route between
culture.Exhibitions make their statements two points,the floorplan of an exhibithas
throughtheirown formalconventions,and a crucialinfluence on how much ofit most
thesecompriseprimarilytheenclosedspace people w i
ll see.With this plot in mind,it is
ofthe gallery.The galleryw illhave specific possibleto createan exhibitionplan which
dimensions of length,width and ceiling linksinformationhierarchy andvisitor flow.
height,and possibly of window positions
and sizesif any naturallightis permitted.It The conclusionsof Peponis and Hesdin at
must have at least one doorway as en- the Bartlet School are more fundamental,
trance and exit point.Within this space are and show how the relationship between
the three-dimensionalinstallationswhich spaces in a gallery crucially affects the
range in complexity from the hanging of ways in which knowledge is generated,
modern pictures directly on to four white and the kind ofknowledgethat it is.Three
walls, to the complex display units re- relational properties can be isolated.The
quired to house an exhibitionlikeArchae- first concerns the relative separation of
ology in Britain, an important temporary spaces between one display unit and an-
exhibition mounted at the British Museum other;this is defined as depth, and the
in 1987.Associated with these installations aggregate of space separation shows that
are the objects themselves,and a range of some exhibitions are deeper than others.
lights,plinths and two-dimensionalgraph- The second concerns the provision of
ics including labels. alternative ways of going from one space
to another,that is the number of ljizgs in
The nature of museum exhibition,then, the plan.The final property bears on the
comprises an enclosed indoor space,di- ease with which the viewer comprehends
vided into units by display casing which the structural planning of the gallery;this
tends,the nature ofa room being what it is, property is known as entyopy, and the
to cling to the four walls and to cut up the more entropic a gallery is, the less it is
central space into various shapes. This structured.
casing transmits the objects and other
display pieces through glass,and does so The socialconnotationsofthis morphologi-
in vague relationshipto the size and scopecalanalysisareimportant,becausethewhole
of the human body. A certain amount, process crystallizeswhat many curatorsand
sometimes a considerableamount,of in- visitors feel in an intuitive way when they
fluence can be brought to bear upon the walkrounda gallery.To putitrathercrudely,
viewer by choosing paint and fabric col- exhibitionswith strongaxialstructures,shal-
our,and above all lighting,which maxi- low depth and a low ring factor present
mize or minimize the impact of all these knowledge as if it were the map of well-
features,and direct the viewer’sattention.known terrain where the relationship of
each part to another,and all to the whole,is
The way in which the installations are thoroughly understood.Exhibitionswhose
organized within the space,what w e may plans show a high degree of entropy (or a
call exhibition morphology,and the impli- weaker structure), considerabledepthand a
cations of this have been the subject of high ringfactorshowknowledgeasapropo-
study at the Royal Ontario Museum in sitionthatmay stimulatefurther,or different,
Canada and the Bartlet School ofArchitec- answering propositions.
O UNESCO 1995 11
Susan Pearce

Vien/of the
exhibition
Archaeology in
Britain.

A study in contrasts The exhibitionplan had generally a strong

axial structure,with shallow depth and a
An analysis of two contrasting exhibition generally low ring factor,interrupted by
plans showswhat this means.For a period three areas with a greater ring factor,at
the British Museum was showing both the Sections7,sand 9,Sections12,13 and 14,
temporary exhibition Archaeology in Brit- and Section 16,Liiadoolu&Ian,.Archaeologi-
nirz and the permanent display known as cal knowledgein this exhibition was pre-
TheEarly &Iedieual Room.Archaeology in sented as a known sequence which the
Britainwas an ambitious project intended visitor might learn. The same note of
to present the new approachesto archae- informationpresentationwas struckin the
ology and the new information which individual section units, all through the
thesehaveyielded,and embraced achrono- employment of a polished technology.
logical stretch from the Mesolithic to AD.
1600.The subject-matterwas broken up %e Early MedieualRoom is a considerable
into fifteen units, together with the six- contrast. It traces the rise of Medieval
teenth,Lindozufilatz,intended to act as the Europe from its roots in the Late Antique
exhibition's climax in the popular sense. world,and it doesso throughdisplaycases
12 0 UNESCO 1395

which include a series on the migration
and post-migrationtribes c.A.D.400-1100
(Cases 1-15>,a serieson the Late Antique
and Byzantine World (Cases 16-28), a
sequenceon the Germans,Anglo-Saxons,
Celts and Vikings with a strong British
emphasis (Cases 29-50), and a separate
section on the Sutton Hoo ship burial
(Cases 51-56) which ensuresthatthisw ill
be one ofthe most populargalleriesin the
museum. The material on show is pre-
dominantly ‘fine’work, particularly in
metal.
The plan follows a pattern of axials which
creates a lattice-workstructure within the
room,so that from any position a visitor
can be attracted to a range of possible
movements.At the sametime,the plan has
considerable depth and offers a very com-
plex series of overlapping and concentric
rings.All thismeans that tlie chronological
sequenceiswell-nighimpossibleto follow
and,indeed,it is not greatly stressed in the
display content, but that the visitor is
encouraged to loolc at the material as he
chooses and to form an opinion,forexam-
ple,about how classicalforms influenced
early medieval craftsmanship. The two
sorts of exhibition plan offer different
models of knowledgeand create a differ-
ent relationship between tlie curator and
the viewer.
O UNESCO 1995
Structuring the past:exhibiting archaeology
The sum ofthese selectiveand structuring
processes,which emerges as the public
exhibition, clearly does not represent a
picture of any society which is ‘true’
in an
objective sense,but rather a reflection of
the curator’sand designer’smind, to be
refracted again through the mind of tlie
viewer.Provided,of course,that external
facts about the material - dates, prov-
enance,rawmaterials,characterizationand
-
so on are correct.Provided,in a word,
that the curator has done an honest job,
how much does the intensely subjective
nature of museum interpretationmatter?
Its characteras art should give us a clue.
At a fundamental level,artistic creation
of every kind supposesthat people share
a common mind capable of grasping
poetic truths about the human condition
which are expressed in social artefacts,
includingmaterialculture(and,ofcourse,
in an exhibition itself,which is equally
an artefact). If a work of art departs so
farfrom this norm that it makes no sense
to a viewer prepared to bring a degree of
sympathy to its understanding, it has
failed, and so lias an exhibition. If,
however, the work on show strikes a
chord in tlie viewer’sresponses,then it
has begun to succeed,and it is at this
level of common human understanding
that our interpretations of past people
find their legitiinacy.
13
The exhibition as theatre
How can theattical concepts of
dratnaturgy and nnirative be applied to
exhibition design? Frank den Oridsten
describes an example of this noue1
approach, which is, howeuer, not withoiit
riskfor apublic irnaccristomed to
dealing uiith metaphor and abstractioiz.
Tbe author and his partlie?;Lenneke
Bider, m m n design bureau in
Amsterdam; they created the conceptfor
the exhibition described in thefollozuing
article and are ciiwently working on
designing thepermanent exhibitionfor
the new Media Museum to be opened in
Karlsmihe (Gerniany) in 1997.
14
Published by Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road. Oxford, OX+ IJF iUK1 and 738 Main Street.Cambridge. MA 02141 (USA)
When one is planning an article on the seum material.This added value is only
value of theatre or film achievements for generated in a context thatis coherentas to
exhibition practice,it is impossible to es- content and space.It is precisely for this
cape the general debate on this issue reason-the factthat the constructionofan
taking place within the museum world. ad hoc context of this kind is such a
Over the last decade, at all events in -
complex matter that creators of exhibi-
Western Europe,there has been intensive tionshave to immerse themselves in narra-
-
discussion both within and outside mu- tive structures and the laws governing
seums-on the quality and effectivenessof drama.
the exhibitionson offer.This is a problem
forevery kind ofmuseum,even thoughthe Talented exhibition designers have,natu-
museum of modern art has not acknowl- rally,always experimented with this fac-
edged any concern with the issue, the tor,independently of museum trends and
assumption being that the implicitlycritical in the shadow of the great crowd-pullers.
character of modern art w ill have its own ‘Wayward’exhibitionsfrequentlyappear,
effect on museological presentation.The usually in the art museum or within its
exhibitionof modern art is thus presumed field.Forthe most part the othermuseums
to possess sufficient explosive power to have backed a different horse,or so it
catch the public’simagination. would appear.The turbulence surround-
ing the question of the exhibition is in-
By now w e know that this concept is a creased still further by the interplay of
dubious one.Just as in the case of other educational and commercial considera-
museums,themodern-artmuseum is grap- tions.The chiefresult ofthis has been that
pling with the issue of what influence an the thematic exhibition has become a
exhibitioncan possess as a medium.Here, favourite implement in weaving the de-
too, opinions differ between those who sired web of linked insights around a
regard the museum as a temple,a shrineto collection. Nevertheless, in practice its
art, and those who are more inclined to success saw a greater discrepancy be-
experiment with the more academic po- tween content and form. W h y is this?
tentialofthe medium.However,a decided Because a focused vision was lacking.
difference between the museum of mod- Supervision was seldom entrusted to an
ern art and other categories of museum is exhibition creator,who was able to con-
that natural-history-museumor science- vert the curator’sknowledge and sensitiv-
museum collections,for example, may ity to authentic material,and the design-
well have their prize items but no subjec- er’s aesthetic gifts into a telling
tive masterpieces.The collectionis no less dramaturgically coherent presentation.
authentic;it is simply that the museum
object does not stand on its own in the From the outset,two different directions
same way as a painting. If it is removed were taken in the debate on this problem.
from its context,it therebylosesits original Enthusiastic educators said: ‘ W ehave to
meaning and only regains significancefor know more about what the public appre-
a public when the museum relocates it -
ciates,in order to achieve a more effective
-
presents it anew in another meaningful presentation of the content.’Ambitious
context.It is precisely because of this loss creators of exhibitions said: ‘ W ehave to
of original context that other kinds of develop greater vision,and acquire a bet-
museum have to rely on the importance ter knowledge of what the medium can
the exhibition designer adds to the mu- achieve in relation to a particular collec-
lSSN 1350-0775,hfiiseiinilnfernntioml(UNESCO.Parisi, NO. 185 ivoi. 47,NO.1, 1995)
O UNESCO 1995
 The exhibition as theatre

tion.’These two tendencies are more or

less diametricallyopposed,and w e have to
ask ourselves whether a compromise is
possible,or even desirable.

One exponent of the first concept is the

InternationalLaboratoryforVisitor Studies
(ILVS) at the UniversityofWisconsin in the
United States.Museum Iizteniatioiznl,No.
178,devoted a good deal of attention to
this.The CaminiFoundation in the Nether-
lands was an exponent of the second
concept; after a number of short-lived
activities,this organizationfell by the way-
side, largely because of the subsidizers’
impatience.Camini was a conscious reac-
tion against the call for statistics and pre-
scriptions,and envisaged being able to
introducedramaturgy and insightinto nar-
rative structuresin exhibitionpractice.

Since our design bureau was closely in-
volvedwith the CaminiFoundationproject,
Iwould liketo illustratethe typical Camini
approach by means of a practical exam-
ple.Essentially this approach,which con-
sists in developing a dramaturgical con-
cept, is based upon entirely different
insights to those underlying the ‘visitor
studies’ approach dictated by didactic
considerations.Visitor studiesconstitutea
quicksand for a designer of exhibitions
intent on bringing his or her vision of a
subjectinto the limelightin a conciseway.
This is not because such studieswould be
ineffectual from the educational point of
view,but rather because,in the artistic
sense,they can never produce a sharply
focuseddesign.Undoubtedly,visitorstud-
ies increase professionalism - but they
destroy the ‘bite’in the work.It is the path
leading to the greatest precision,but also
to the least surprise-value.Nevertheless,
for many museums this is the more attrac-
tive route to follow since an exhibition
based on Camini principles is always a
risky venture.
O UNESCO 1995
A dramaturgical approach View of the Naxoshalle:large banners
displaying ‘niacbinel~zinians’ haig
On 1 June 1992,an exhibition,entitled In aboue the entire lerzgtli of thefactoiy.
der Tradition der Modenie: 100 Jahre
~etallgeiue~l~scl~~~e~~(177 the %aditio17 of
Modeinisnit 100 Years of Metal-workers’
Tiade Unions), was opened in an aban-
doned factoryin Frankfurt am Main (Ger-
many). This exhibition was the end-prod-
uct of a process of creation inspired by
Camini ambitions,at all events to begin
with.The occasion was the centenary of
the influential German metal-workers’
union,IGMetall.The three cities ofFrank-
furt, Stuttgart and Berlin decided to fi-
nance an exhibition in celebration of this
jubilee,and the art historian Hans Peter
Schwartz was asked to set it up. The
Naxoshalle in Frankfurt was a good loca-
tion for a projected Museum of Modern-
ism.Schwartz was a potential director
for such a museum, and regarded the
exhibition as the first project which
would allow him to demonstrate his
views on exhibiting objectsofthis kind.In
Schwartz’sown words:
i) 15

7T.eobjects displqed outside the
Nmoshnlle forni par7 of the ?nachine
peifonnrrnce Operation Starker Arm piit
on by the BBMgrotip diiriizg the opening
of the exhibition.
16
A n exhibition which is largely angled
towards its immediate reception by the
public,is obliged to lean heavily on the
fascination inherent in the original.This
creates problems:there is no Rembrandt
of industrial history, no Leonard0 of
technical development.This is not only
a self-evident fact; it can also be ex-
tremely interesting when a different
kind of exhibition is being created,
which does not aim at passive experi-
ence of subjective masterpieces, but
rather at the active reconstruction of
evidence and documentation involving
the collective memory. Furthermore,in
addition to presenting original items,
one must make use of the entire range
of means available to an exhibition.
Schwartz wanted an exhibition that would
be determined by more than the subject
alone.The medium itself ought to unfold
intoa story in which the history ofthe trade-
union movement would not only be told in
a linearmanner but would also demonstrate
a complex linkage with other areas of life.
However,in contrast to its ambitions for
presentation, the proposed ‘content’ap-
proach pointed in the direction of a con-
-
ventional exhibition this was because its
art-historian’sanalysis, and the resulting
themesand suggestions,did not anticipate
a presentation of the trade-union move-
ment sufficiently dynamic so as to renderit
impossible for the visitor to escape the
narrative of the exhibition.
The spatial dimensions of the exhibition
locationwere a determiningfactor,sincein
principle an exhibition is a spatial phe-
nomenon,usually absorbedina non-linear
way by visitors,at a tempo they themselves
choose.W e had to deal with a hall roughly
80 metres long by 20 metres wide and 16
metres high:an ocean of space.In view of
the fact that we deliberately did not want
to bring every square metre of this space
into play,we suggested an approach in
which the theme would be developed in a
number of more or less autonomous pres-
entations.Each of these was to be housed
in an individuallydesigned exhibit space
or compartment - exhibitions within an
-
exhibition as it were which had to be
coherent as to content,yet not seamlessly
interconnected.O n the contrary,it was
precisely the vacuum between the com-
partments that could suggest unspecified
relationships.Thus, with a network of
invisible threads, a small archipelago of
‘associativeislands’would be created in
the midst of the ‘ocean’ of the old factory.
In order to achieve this,the choice of the
rightmetaphorwas strategicallyimportant.
Q UNESCO 1995
 The exhibition as theatre

Such a metaphor would provide us with class;the rise of the metropolis;the fasci-
indicationsfor form and content,and en- nation with mobility;the anxiety about -
able us to givefullweight to every part,and and adorationof-the machine,and so on,
guarantee the coherence of the whole by must be counted among the side-effects
means ofan intriguing,albeithidden,struc- posited above.
ture.With this end in view,w e employed
a reasoning based on nothing more than a This complex of side-effectsought to be
seriesofbrainwaves and intuitiveobserva- the starting-pointin our exhibition for an
tions.This kind of ‘hop-skip-jump’ deduc- implicit and up-to-datecommentary on
tive method may be utterly objectionable this main current.
from a scholarlypoint ofview,yetit isnone
the less useful here, since it serves no Since the title of the exhibition, In the
purpose beyond that of offering a mean- Dadition ofModenaisni: 100 YearsofMetal-
ingful perspective.In our view, this per- workers’ Trade Uizio?zs(Schwartz’stitle),
spective was of crucial importance in en- suggests a number of cross-links,all,rel-
suring the alignmentofall the effortsbeing evant to the concept of modernism, it
made during the preparatory stages,with- seemed to us important to render this
out cancelling out the various designers’ concept manageable by means of the
room for manoeuvre. I shall clarifi this schema presented below.
reasoning in broad outline;this is all one
can dowithin the restrictedcompassofthis The process of industrialization set in
article,but I hope it w ill be enough to motion a development we have called
provide the necessary insight into the idea‘progress’.Modernism represents the idea
underlying our project, along with the that technologicalprogress also results,
‘hingepoints’in our dramaturgy. more or less automatically,in social
progress.For a long time,optimism that
such progress is possible was an impor-
Hop-skip-jumpand the leaking tant driving force, yet ‘progress‘is a
garden hose reversible notion.N o w that there is no
longer an unswerving faith in techno-
The fascinating aspect of changes within logical culture, our observation must
complex systemsis that the mainstream of also be modified.What was regarded as
a development never stands alone. It is progressive a century ago must now be
alwaysaccompaniedby a series ofpredict- considered as retrograde, on other
able and fortuitous side-effects,desirable grounds.
or otherwise.Here the image of the gar-
denercomesuppermost;he plantsa young This assembly of organizing principles
tree on barren ground,and waters it every constituted the foundation for an exhibi-
day.The tree thrives,but the garden hose tionplan consistingofan ‘overture’ and the
leaks and,unintentionally on the part of elements w e describe below.An ‘allegory
the gardener,other crops are also brought of metal’would emphasize the fascination
to germination in the vicinity. of the material itself.A multimedia opera
entitled Alle Rader stelJen still (roughly
If one regardsthe industrializationprocess translatable as ‘Allthe Wheels Come to a
as the main current in the creation of Stop’)would present the creation,devel-
modern Western society,then the devel- opment and future of the labour move-
opment and emancipation of the working ment.In the ‘inventors’ gallery’,the ‘myth
O UNESCO I995 17
Frank deiz Oudsten

of the machine’would be told,with stories W e were fascinated by the complex of

about work machines,human machines, rationaland irrationalfactorswhich appear
and mechanized humans.A row of some to have determined all the themes men-
twenty differentmakes of motor-car(Ger- tioned above.Even more markedly,these
man,of course) would constitute the com- factors appear to be inseparable,making
partment for ‘motor-car mobility’.The ve- the metaphor of the leaking garden hose
hicleswould stand in a rowwith theirlights such a useful one because here two views
on.Each car would be a personal cinema, of reality have been united in one image.
in which the visitor would be able to
choosefroma collectionoffilmprogrammes For the actual entry to the exhibition,w e
touching on the theme of mobility. The proposed a specially commissioned piece
‘metropolis’ compartmentwould consistof ofmonumentalentrancemachinery which
two stories, presenting the contrast be- would consist partly of turnstiles,of the
tween the potential of the city and the kind in the ParisMétro.In fact the installa-
impossibilityof governing it. In the ‘mod- tion was intended to evoke the image of a
ernists’ visions’ compartment, the elec- giantmechanicalcalculatororclockmecha-
tronic equivalents of ideologistsand futur- nism,driven by a transmission system that
ists from trade-union,business,scholarly includedcountlessshaftsand drivingbelts,
and political circles would debate the in the same way that a singlesteam engine
future of work,technology and society. powered an entire ‘machine park: one
movement to which all other movements
It would be going too far offcourse to give were related.
a detailedillustrationofthe transformation
of each section into its concrete form.In On the otherside ofthe entry space,a large-
this brief outline I shall,therefore,discuss format projection of the film Der Laidder
only our proposal for the Overture. Dinge (roughly translatable as ‘TheCourse
of Things’)would attract the visitors’atten-
tion.This film,made by the Swiss painters
The Overture Fischli and Weiss, lasts thirty minutes,yet
each five-minutespanis,roughlyspeaking,
If one conceives of an exhibition as the representative of the whole. Der Laid der
narration of dramatic moments,then the DiFzge is a poetic variation on the well-
-
entrance the Overture - is of crucial known domino effect. Within a linear ar-
importance.Justas the opening move in a rangement,consisting of a series of wob-
chessgame revealsthe chess-player’s strat- bling,ungainly constructions,the first ele-
egy,and the first bars of a piece of music ment is set in motion to produce a chain
establish the tone for what follows,the reaction governed by the laws of physics
overture is the place in which the subject- and chemistry.Since chance also plays a
matter of an exhibitionis embedded.Our role here,this process (or rather the filmed
plan placed the greatestimportance on an record of the process) provides a witty and
initiation ritual of this kind,because our stimulatingcommentaryon cause and effect.
goal was an open-structuredassociative
exhibitionwhich would function properly With this contrast between the two sides,
only if the public were to understand, the Overturewould thusconstituteapmde
whether intuitively or rationally,the crea- deux between rational and irrational ma-
tors’leitmotg chines.The predictability and causality of
the oldermechanistic worldviewwould be
18 O UNESCO 1995
 The exhibition as theatre

overtakenby the irrationalprocess embod- highlighted in a remarkable and highly Tlie nztiltimedia theatre employs slide
ied in Der Lnz~derDinge,which demon- individualmanner.Yet many visitors found and videoprojections to illtistrate the
strates the paradox of the ‘deliberatecoin- theexhibitionincomprehensible,evenbarely operaAlle Rader stehen still.
cidence’.It was necessarythat this contrast legible.The whole entity only regained its
should reveal the dynamic of the exhibi- eloquence by means of the guided tour.
tion:the history of the trade union would What had gone wrong?The answer is sim-
be highlighted in the way it deserved. in ple:the exhibitionwas no longer an exhibi-
other words, its story would show the tion.When w e presented our conceptto IG
relationship between the creation of the Metal1 in February 1991,it was clear that the
proletariat in the nineteenth century,and organization experienced difficulty where
the social effects of the spread of knowl- the plan (or rather its lex/elof abstraction)
edge and capital in our era. was concerned.Although there were reser-
vations in regard to the principle of free
association, the main problem lay else-
Neither fsh nor fowl where. People who are unaccustomed to
thinking in images appear to experience
When the exhibitionwasopened,therewas immense difficulty in giving concrete form
general agreementthat the themehad been to abstract concepts in their imagination.
O UNESCO 1995 i)
19
Frank den Oiidsten
in itself,this comes as no surprise.It oniy
constitutesa problem for the dramatistwho
has only words at his disposal in the initial
stages. The presentation was of course
backed up by a maquette and other visual
material,yetthe union was notentirelywon
over.The position taken by IG Metall was
that the history of its organization ought to
be presented in a more classical and direct
way.This heralded thebeginning ofa series
of concessions and adaptations,the result
being that,conceptually,the exhibitionwas
no longerfish,fowlorgood red herring.The
whole stillpossessedgreatassociativepower,
but where experience was concerned,it
remained an amalgam ofmore or lessexcit-
ing fragments.The Overture,sowingCO&-
sion as it did,was largely responsible for
this.
The borderline between the exhibitionand
the world outside it was now signalledby
a passage evoking memories ofthe factory
gate.To the left,the first film images ever
made, by the Lumière brothers,showed
workers leaving a factory in 1895.To the
right,one found a typology ofthe architec-
ture of the factory entrauce as a fortress,a
city gate, a triumphal arch, a modern
functional entry, and so on. The actual
entrance was flanked by two large zinc
statues:a metalsmithwith his hammer,and
a metal caster with his ladle. The entire
section possessed atmosphere,yet gave
the impressionof having found itselfin an
historical exhibition.
Once inside the exhibition,this idea was
reinforced for the visitor by an apparatus
largely based on the Overture,it is true,yet
producing a completely different drama-
turgical effect.Here,the idea of the monu-
mental mechanism was combined with a
new historical element: a musée
sentimentale intended to compensate for
the scepticism shown by IG Metall. A
hundred of the clothes lockers so charac-
20
teristic of the factory told the story of a
century of union history (a locker for each
year) through the workers’personal pos-
sessions. Some of these lockers were
mounted in clusters on mechanisms that
moved in varying patterns. Yet since the
nmsée sentimentaledominated the recep-
tion area for the public, the idea of the
historical exhibitionwas considered here,
as well.There was certainly a mechanistic
element,yet this did not reveal itself as
such,particularlyinview ofthefactthatthe
original counterpoint,Der LairfderDinge,
was housed in another part of the exhibi-
tion as an independent section.
What happened in this exhibition is what
one so often finds in museum presenta-
tions:the metaphors remain literary ones.
Many of the concepts are presented meta-
phorically,but in the finalpresentation one
needs to search long and hard for these
splendid metaphors.The problem is a dual
one: either the metaphors are wrongly
chosen,or it is clearly a hellish task to
locate them within an adequate form.
in either case, a dramaturgical approach
can produce a solution.In the version 117
der Tradition der Moderne seen by the
public,new metaphors were subsequently
inserted in order to lend coherence (with
retrospective force) to the exhibition.At
the opening, Hans Peter Schwartz de-
scribed his work in the following way:
Our exhibition can best be character-
ized as a kind of de-constructivist tour
of the factory.In other words,w e have
taken the factoiy to pieces, reducing it
to its constituent elements, and there-
after rebuilding it in accordance with
our criteria. And, as you can see, our
de-constructivist factory is once more
producing things -no longer commodi-
ties,but (one hopes) meanings, or at all
events feelings.
Q UNESCO 1395
Creating a context:a challenge to
lndian museums
M.L.Nigain
Museums in developing coiintiies mist
cater to apublic that isfiequerztly
semiliterate or eveii illiteinte.M.L.Nigaiil
SI!JOWS tbnt altl~otigbtl-aditionalIVatenz
inethods aird techniques may be
successftilly adapted to create scieiitific
aid technologicaldisplays,tlxy cati be
totally inappropriate in ahibitiug ail
and nrcbaeological objects.The author is
a leadiiag Indian miseologist aridfoniies
Director of the Salai-Jung Museui?iin
Hyderabad.He has twice been elected
Pl-esideiaiof the &Iuseiim Association of
India aiid is cur-rerit!y Pl-esideîitof the
Congress of Indian Art Histor-ians.He bas
publisixd a dozeen books and more than
foi?y articles in bzdian and overseas
journals.
ISSN 1350-0775,Mziseiiin I?zfei~iatioizul
(UNESCO,Paris), No. 185 (Vol.47,No. 1,1995)
- UNESCO 1995
O ~..
Published by Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road,OxFord, OX4 1JF (UK) and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,MA 02142 (USA)
‘Amuseum,’Colbert wrote, ‘likean ice- lowingexhibitionprinciplesimportedfrom
berg,isto a large degree,not discernibleto the West,failto highlight the socialvalues
the casual eye.‘Exhibitions are the most and traditionsunderlyingmuseum objects.
effective tool to interact with and to en- The emphasis here is often laid more on
lighten the visiting public. It is through the description,provenance,period and
exhibitions ofobjectsthatmuseums reflect dynastic affiliations of the objects.This is,
and reinforce the people’s collective no doubt,essentialforthe historyofart,yet
memory so as to make them culturally the social significance of the objects,their
conscious.Museum objects,being themute roleand function,are alsoofutmostimpor-
testimonyofthe past,need amulti-discipli- tance and must be emphasized so as to
nary approach to bring out the multi- understand the culture of the community
dimensional knowledge relating to the orregionwhichamuseum ultimatelystands
overall development of human society. to serve.Thenew meaningsacquiredby an
Theinformation/knowledgethusacquired object after its incorporation into the mu-
forms the message which has to be com- seum collection,its changing role,alien
municated to visitors.A museum exhibi- influences,and the growth and decline of
tion,therefore,deals primarily with three itsuse,should all be part ofthe knowledge
things:museum objects,the message and to be communicated.
the people who are at the receiving end.
To cite an example, Indian bronzes,
Most exhibitions are based on a theme terracotta figurinesand objects of decora-
that helps to define the ‘message’. The tiveart,apartfrom theiraestheticvalue,are
goalsand objectivesof an exhibition are bestowed with individual socio-cultural
largely dependent on the kind of mes- roles and meanings in the everyday life of
sage it is intended to transmit.As the the people.They tend to lose this signifi-
sourceof all human knowledgeis objec- canceoncetheyareremovedfrom thetotal
tive reality,the concreteand perceptible architecturalscheme of a temple and are
objects that are the evidence of the exhibited in air-tightshowcasesunder ar-
historicaldevelopmentprocess are there- tificial lighting. Moreover, the stone of
fore of considerable importance. Indian sculptures is meant to be viewed
under direct sunlight where it gradually
Inorderto establishadynamicrelationship changesits shade.Artificial lightingfalling
between the museum and the public,it is from the top makes an Indian sculpture
necessary to analysethe objects,the public look flat.It losesnotonly itsinitialsocial
and the most effectivedisplay techniques. context and function but its aesthetic
The objects selected have to be studiedso quality as well.
as to reveal their intrinsic and explicit
qualities,theiroriginandprovenance,their
relationship to similar objects,and their Attracting the casud visitor
role in nature and society within a given
space and time. Their manipulation and Museum visitors can broadly be divided
the choice ofexhibition techniqueswill be into two groups.The first includes schol-
largely determined by the message to be ars,specialists and researchers who are
communicated. motivated and often come prepared for
their visit.The second category consists of
Most museums in the developing world, the large number of casual visitors who
based on early European models and fol- come just to explore the museum more or
21
11.1.L.Nigam
less at random, looking for things that
interest them.They interact with exhibits
with little background and with no one to
help them interpret what they see. The
situation is more acute in museums of
developing countriessuch as India,where
more than 60 per cent of visitors are
illiterateand semiliterate.The realproblem
is to communicate with these unguided,
casual visitors. With an unprecedented
boost in domestic tourism,thousands of
them pass through museum portals every
day with scant academic knowledge and
with very low and vague expectations.A
museum exhibitionmust,therefore,present
a synthesisof two decisive factors,impart-
ing,first,knowledgeand experience,and,
second,sensorypleasure in orderto satisfy
the maximum number of visitors.
Exhibit planners are often ignorant of the
Hall of Ewopeanpaintings,SalarJzmg actual audience that eventually comes to
Hyderabad.
IlI~iseîim, view their exhibitions.They are basically
academicians and specialists who are too
closeto their specializedknowledgeofthe
subject and often fail to understand the
ordinary visitor’s point of view. Hence,
their scholarly orientation generates unre-
alistic expectations.The result is an infor-
mation overload which creates more con-
fusion and makes the visitor uninterested.
The tendency of curators to plan thematic
displays of objects of history,art and ar-
chaeologyinchronologicalsequencemeets
with indifference and disenchantment
among illiterate and semiliterate visitors.
People only recognize and become inter-
ested in the objects,phenomena and proc-
esses with which they are already familiar.
Experience has shown that the thematic
presentation of objects often fails to catch
the attentionof the casual visitor for sheer
lack of familiarity. O n the contrary, if
artefacts familiar to the beholding eye are
featured in the first part of an exhibition,
they are bound to attract the visitor’satten-
O UNESCO i995

tion.Once interested and motivated,the
visitor is sure to discover the unknown
phenomena with greater inquisitiveness
and vigour.
A detailed audience analysis relating to
visitors’ academic background, attitudes,
expectations and preconceptions about
the prospective exhibit’scontentis equally
vital in the early planning stages to make
tlie exhibition more effective and mean-
ingful.Most visitors are attracted to public
exhibitions because of their informality -
tlie freedom to choose routes,topics,ap-
proaches and pacing. Therefore, when-
ever possible,it is important that visitors
feelno obligationto seeeverything.Hence,
the enforcement of routes should be used
with caution.Free exploration and social
interaction are importantnatural elements
of human behaviour in museum envi-
ronments and are among their major
attractions.The challenge is to link com-
munication objectives,and the learning
that should resultfrom carefully planned
exhibit content,with the enjoyment of
these intrinsic exploratory,social and
recreational interests.
Seeing and learning
The approachesand strategies adopted in
the exhibitions of Indian museums today
are twofold:taxonometricand thematic.In
the former approach,the material is dis-
played according to classification of ob-
jects. The latter method adopts a story-
telling techniquewhereby visitors are ex-
pected to followa guided path in order to
understand the evolution of the theme.
Nearer to this approach is the situational
display where the objects are arranged in
a reconstructednaturalistic context(Period
Rooms). The purposeismainly to popular-
ize the scientific knowledgeof a particular
fieldby guiding thevisitorto make connec-
O UNESCO 1995
Creating a context:a challenge to Indian museums
8
23
2
v
5
<i<
6
5
O
.k
O
ça
Pa7-ticipatory
exhibit engages the
visitov iu
elernenfay
scient@ processes.
tionsbetween the exhibited objectsand to
followthe developmentof the theme as it
evolves in the exhibition.All these ap-
proaches are,no doubt,known as tradi-
tional and are used in most developing
countries.Here the aim is purely didactic,
to communicate specific knowledge. It
presupposes that visitors do not know
about the objects. Hence, more textual
information is supplied to educate them.
The main defectoftheseapproachesis that
visitors are forced to acceptthe interpreta-
tion given by the museum; they are not
given a choice to view objects indepen-
dently,to experience them and to draw
their own conclusions.
It is, however,known that most visitors
frequent museums and galleries to relax
and enjoy their leisure. As the primary
interest of such casual visitors is towards
visual exploration of the exhibit environ-
ment,more dynamicand dramaticexhibits
that promise ‘fun’appeal to them and,if
properly motivated,they w i
ll learn from
their visit.Objects that are unique and that
move or invitesensoryinvolvement(touch-
ing,manipulation), easily attract their at-
tention.Yet,the element of entertainment
# 23
$1. L.Nignm

or amusement must be used as a means to their own inferences.In such exhibitions,

an end and not as an end in itself.Exhibits the effort is made not to highlight any
in science centresand museums ofnatural singleobject but rather to establisha close
history and technology,unlike those in art relationship between the objects so as to
and archaeology museums,are mostly re- reveal the totality of a social environment
constructed and do not contain original by creatingan originalatmosphere.These
works. The knowledge so disbursed is new types of art exhibitiondo not differ-
alreadyknown.Here it is the physical form entiate between original and supporting
of the objects and their functional as- evidence.
pects that count.It is more a matter of
seeing and learning rather than of deal- In order to create contrasts and heighten
ing with human sensibilities. Hence, tension, the designer tries to take full
traditional exhibition methods to popu- advantageofspace,Iight,coloursand even
larize the subject-matterare still valid in audio animation.Spaceplays an important
science and technology museums.N e w role in designingan exhibitionastheshape
technological devices and animation and sizeofobjectsinrelationto spacehave
programmes are fully utilized here. an emotional impact.Lighting is also ex-
tremely important in the perception of
Inmuseums ofart and archaeology,where things.It illuminatesshapes,textures and
the objects act as symbolsto communicate coloursto createvisual images.Visitorscan
an idea or a custom which is the core of form their own imaginary shapes or con-
culture,traditionalexhibitionsfail to bring cepts according to the play of light which
the desired results.An object of beauty is manipulatesshadowsand generatesdiffer-
not beauty itself but the reflection of that entfeelingsand attitudes.As RolandBarthes
beauty. The object as a symbol which the French semiotician pointed out, the
reflectsbeauty has also undergone numer- nature of the lighting establishesthe inten-
ous changes in space and time which sity of the experience. Similarly,colours
revealthe gradual developmentofsociety. have an emotionalimpacton people.They
Thus,the latest trend in organizing art and can play a meaningful role in bringing
archaeology exhibitions in most of the contextual relationships to the exhibit
developed countries is to strive for the throughwarmth and coolness.Thus,an art
reflection of reality through objects rather exhibitionis an imaginative process which
than to popularize knowledge of art his- deals with human emotions to arouse the
tory. It is more an emotional approach. viewer’s inner sensibilities. It is not so
Museums should not only communicate much a question of learning but ofvisual-
information but should allow visitors to izing,experiencing and enjoying the real
come in direct and intimate contact with content of art, that is to say, tradition,
the objects,toview them and thereby draw beauty and ultimate reality.

24 Q UNESCO 1995
Exhibit sound design
Michael Stocker
Sound is becoming an increasitzg~~
iinpoflapit element in exhibitplaîiizilzg
and design.As Michael Stockerpoints
out, it Inay enhance an eyhibit by
yei@orcing the message of the objects on
display, or it niay iii itselfbe coizsidei*ed
a niusei~in‘aîlefact’well worth
p~esewiizgfov fktuw generatior is. The
ailtho?.is ci consiiltant OIZexhibit sound
productioiz aiid is aprincipal of a
teclmicalfacilities desigizfimi in
California wllose clients iiiclude the
United States National Holocazrst
Mzisetini in Washington,D.C., the Muse0
Papalote in Mexico City and the
Lawrence Hall of Science iîz Berkeley,
Califonzia.
ISSN 13504775,Mzrserlm kzten~nliorznl(UNESCO,Paris), No. 185 (Vol.47,No. 1,1995)
O UNESCO 1995
Published by Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road,Oxford,OX4 1JF (UK) and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,M A 02142 (USA)
When asked to describe a museum,most can disappear completely in just mo-
people w i
ll startby speaking of dioramas, ments,but it can leave an impression that
display cases,sculpturesand paintings.if wi
ll last for generations.In its recorded
asked what they learned from a museum form,it is the only ‘original’
material that
exhibit,they might recall what they have may be removed from a museum without
read on one of the display labels or infor- depleting the collection.
ination panels. If asked what impressed
them most about a museum, an entirely Sound can be changed easily to modify the
different descriptive language w il
l come context of an exhibit.This may be done to
into play. This language is one of emo- update an exhibit as more accurate infor-
tionalinvolvement,and may travel into the mation is revealed about the subject,or to
finest detail ofa sampleoftextile,or it may link one exhibit to another as the current
explore the grandeur of the museum’s topic changes. Sound recorded or pro-
architecture. duced for museums can be edited and
reassembled to enhance video and movie
These different descriptionsmay not even productions sponsoredby the museum,or
seem to speak ofthe same place.What w il
l performancerightsmay be sold or granted
be common to all of them,however,is to outside production companies or insti-
that they will use sound in the form of tutions for use on independent produc-
language to illuminateand share an expe- tions or academic research.
rience. Through sound,the meaning of
this experience can be conveyed to an- When describing ‘useful’sound,we most
other individualfar removed in space and often place it in three categories music, -
time,or broadcast instantaneously to mil- narrative and ambient sound.These three
lions of people around the globe. categories are equivalent to the music,
dialogue and sound-effectsused in film
What isperhaps most amazingaboutsound production.Any of these three elements
is that if it is simplified by removing the may stand alone to create a complete
constraints of language,its sheer expres- impression,and they all may be used to
sivenesscan transmittheemotionalimpact complement and enhance the meaning of
of an experience to almost anybody who a visual presentation.
can hear.Since the medium of sound is so
effective in conveying impressions and W e categorize ‘useless’sound as ‘noise’.
information,it is advantageous to evaluate Although a designergenerallytries to avoid
carefully the use,content and quality of noise in the productionofexhibitsound,it
sound when designing a museum,whose is an element that must be considered and
primary intention is to impart impressions may actually prove beneficial in some
and information. settings.This aspect of noise is especially
true when considering the ‘psycho-acous-
Sound has many facets of form and appli- tics’ of an exhibit space, which w ill be
cation.It isso prevalent thatw e sometimes considered later in this article.
take it for granted.Sound can be used to
convey information in facts and figures, All categories of sound can either be
transform moods,attract friends or repel produced specifically to suit the design
enemies.It can act as a vehicle of informa- intent of an exhibit or can be recorded
tion between tribes,nationalitiesand even from living examples. Sound produced
between species.Once a soundis made,it specifically for an exhibit may serve as a
25
Michael Stocker
me carefillapplication of acoustical
treatments assisted in the apparent
expansion of exhibit space at the United
States Holocazist Memorial Mzrsezun,
Washington,D.C.
26
‘signature’elementthatis ownedsolelyby emotional impact on the museum visitor,
the museum and may be used as a promo- music can be produced or presented to
tionaltool or even repackagedand distrib- create a mood with the most predictable
uted as a fund-raisingitem in the form of results.As a background element,music
tapes,records,compact discs or broadcast can tie together larger exhibit areas under
productions. the umbrella of an exhibit theme.In the
foreground,it can propel the visitor into
Sound recorded from living examples is the sense of the accompanying exhibit.
part ofa body ofcultural,spiritual,natural This may be especiallytrue of music com-
and scientific information.This material posed to focusthematicallyon the intentof
may have significant value as part of a the exhibit.
museum’scollection.Properly archived,
it can prove an invaluable resource in Music recorded ‘inthe field’ can convey
the future reconstruction of currently volumes of informationabout the culture
endangered or evolving natural habi- of the performers.A simple wedding song
tats: cultural traditions and empirical may illustrate the language,gender roles,
knowledge.Though reproductionrights musical instruments,rhythmic,tonal and
of living sounds are usually owned by structuralsensibilities,and emotionalmood
the sponsoring party,and as such may that the representative culture associates
be used as a vehicle to generate revenue with marriage. The overall sound may
and disseminate knowledge and infor- clearly illustrate the differences between
mation,the ‘ownership’ of the traditions the subject culture and the listener’scul-
that these sounds represent truly be- ture,and the beauty of the song may very
longs to the body of human experience simply convey their similarities.
and natural phenomena.
Narrativemay be presented in many forms.
While all forms of sound w ill induce an These include scripted narratives,theatri-
Ccs UNESCO 1995
 Exhibit sound design

cal presentations,readings from literature, mon threats to life. These witnesses to

‘interactive’dialogues with the museum history need to be recorded.It is not just
visitor and ‘oralhistories’.There is no clear thewordsthatthey speak,but the sound of
or specific advantage of one form over their voices that w
il
l impart the full mean-
anotherand the choiceofthe most suitable ing of their experience.
form w il
l depend on the type and quantity
of the informationto be conveyed.What Justas recording the legacy of the human
should be borne in mind is that a fewwell- experience can help preserve the tradi-
placed quotations or words may easily tions and wisdom of our cultures,the
open many doors of perception for visi- recording ofthe sounds ofnaturalhabitats
tors,whereas a litany of facts and figures may help preserve our disappearing wil-
may drone on beyond the reach of their derness.When people hear the beauty of
imagination. This is not to say that a a dawn chorus in a spring meadow or the
‘wordy’presentation should be avoided; mystery of the night sounds in a tropical
on the contrary,if the story is compelling, rain-forest,a whole new respect for these
or the sound of the voice is interesting or habitats is awakened.It is a constanttreat
comforting,much value can be obtained to observe how a static model of a natural
from a smallamount ofmuseum space and habitat,which museum visitors may just
a modest exhibit investment by using a look at, is transformed when accompa-
story alone. nied by an audio reconstruction of au-
thentic sounds;it comes alive to such an
extent that visitors actually watch models
Preserving the past with sound of birds or frogs as if they were about to
move.Since even in the remotejungles of
Oral history clearly represents the highest South America or the deserts of the North
level of narrative presentation in terms of American West,scarcelyten minutes pass
lasting and manifold use.The advantageof withouthearing the noise ofa chainsawor
oral histories and ‘living stories’ over a an aircraft,the importance of preserving
scripted production is that they transmit the soundsofnature has become painfully
subconscious information rather than a clear.
mere ‘list of facts’.Oral history is also
valuable in that it is unique and precious
information which becomes an integral Presenting sound
part of the exhibit.Catalogued properly,it
can be archived and used for research and When considering the presentation of re-
educationto furtherthe intentof the origi- corded sound in a public setting,many
nal exhibit. elements need to be evaluated. These
include the playback methods and control
W e are fortunateto be living ata timewhen technologies,the types ofsound transduc-
there are people still alive who remember ers or speakers used,and the acoustical
some of the most transforming events in setting or environmentin which the sound
history.They have seen sailing ships and is to be presented.The factors that w i
ll
hand-crankedtelephonesgive way to su- influencethe finalchoicesshould take into
personicjets and satellite-transmittedvoice considerationwhether the sound is to be a
and data.They remember schools of tuna featureofthe exhibitor a supportelement,
measured in days,not kilometres,and a if it is to be used to convey information or
time when smallpoxand polio were com- to create an ambiance.
O UNESCO 1995 27
Michael Stocker
Coiicenled loirdspenkeyspresent the
living tales of the indigenous Cnlzjïonzin
iVIiiookpeople in n replica of n historic
Tulé hutch.
brook and afewinsectsthenbe introduced
into the setting,visitors would more likely
imagine themselves in a woodkand grove
than in a contemporary building.
The effect of this type of acoustical design
iscalled‘psycho-acoustics’, whichrefersto
the psychological effect produced by the
acoustics of a given space.Although peo-
ple receive from their immediate environ-
ment strong direct visual cues which pro-
vide them with an empiricalview of their
There are so many possibilities in play- surrounding space, acoustics,like smell
back and control systems available today and peripheralvision,w i
ll set the subcon-
that many trade publications are dedi- scious cues that give visitors a sense of
cated to their promotionand understand- where they are.In planning public space,
ing;the same holds true for sound trans- psycho-acoustic design can be used to
ducers and speakers.It is obviously be- create‘waitingareas’by allowingpeopleto
yond the scopeofthisarticleto exploreall feelat ease,or it can encouragetrafficflow
these possibilities,but sufficeit to say that by influencing a sense of motion and
attention to audio fidelity and considera- activity.More importantly for exhibit set-
tionsofdurabilityrequired forcontinuous tings,the creationofacoustical spacesthat
-
public use stand out as very important contradict- or complement the visitor’s
designobjectiveswhen specifyinga sound visual experience may open ‘windowsof
presentation system. perception’that allow the experience to
permeate into the subconscious.
Perhaps the most neglected aspect of ex-
hibit sound design is the acoustical design Although sound design has historically
of the exhibit environment.Conditions of been considered in a supporting role in
excessive reverberation,poor speech in- the museum setting,it nevertheless com-
telligibility and background noise may all prises many aspects that are ripe for
detract from the.potentia1impact of an development. This may be particularly
exhibit.In this respect,acoustics w ill play trueinmore industrializedcountrieswhere
a role inanexhibitevenwheresoundisnot museums are competing for the public’s
a presentation element.For example,if a entertainment allowance with ‘homeen-
replica of a naturalwoodland habitatwere tertainmentcentres’, dazzlingthemeparks,
created inside a masonry,glass and steel and sensational films and video games.
building replete with long audio rever- Given the flexibility and potential impact
beration times and crowd noise,a visitor of a well-designedsound presentation,a
would experience merely a constructed thorough evaluation of incorporating
model of awoodland habitat insidea large sound into an exhibit design is always
building.If,however,theareasurrounding warranted.Sound can act as more than an
the habitat were treated acoustically to enhancement to the visual elementsof an
attenuate the noise and the auraleffects of exhibit. If thoughtfully and carefully re-
the reverberation,the visitor would not be corded and produced,it may serve as a
distracted by the sounds of the larger distinct feature and an added asset to a
building. Should the subtle sounds of a museum’sunique collection.
O UNESCO i995
Training for a changing profession
Jane H.Becho
T h Graduate Pivgrani iii Mziseuiii
Exhibition Piaiiiiiizg aîid Design at the
Uizimrsigl of the Arts in Philade@hia
(United States) is apioneei.academic
veiiture which is thefirst of its kirid iiz
thisfieid,Jane H.Bedno is theforiizding
director of thept-ogi-aî?inie;as president
of a leading desigizfirnz iii Chicago,she
was respomiblefor a nzi7iiber of aiuard-
ruinizing exhibitiorisfor the city’s
Miiseîini of Science aiid Iiidustry,
Botanic Gardens aizd Liizcolii Park Zoo.
Drawing for a tlksisproject,The Key 1
Wonderland:Perspectivesand Reality,a
science exhibitplan aiîd design based on
the stoiy Alice in Wonderland.
ISSN 1350-0775,~~zlsatilI7
Iiileii~atioiml(UNESCO,Paris), No. 185 (Vol.47,No. 1, 1995)
O UNESCO 1995
Published by Blackwell I’ubiisiiers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford,OX4 1JF (UK)and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,MA 02142 (USAJ
A smallgroup ofstudentshavebeen study-
ing the discipline of museum exhibition
planning and design at the University of
the Arts in Philadelphia since 1990. Their
work is done under my tutelage,with a
faculty ofexperts drawn from specialities
represented in tlie curriculum,including
members of regional museum staff,spe-
cialist consultants and members of the
university’s other departments. The first
students earned their Master of Fine Art
degrees in 1992,and four further entering
classes have followed them. The 1994
enteringgroup of nine included a Taiwan-
ese director, an industrial designer,an
exhibitiondesigner,an arts administrator,
a film-makerand a jewellerfromtheUnited
States.About the only thing these students
have in common is their possession of
undergraduate records and experience
showing their intellectual and conceptual
strengthsand their willingness to explore
new ideas and experiences.They engage
in a rigorous,tightly structured,full-time
programmewhich takesa minimumoftwo
years for completion,during which time
they take a number of set courses dealing
with a mLu of theory and skills practice,
undertake at least one three-monthmu-
seum internship in an exhibitions depart-
ment and produce a formal thesis on a
subject of their choice germane to exhibi-
tion planning and/or design.
The distinction made between planning
and design in the context of exhibitions
may be unfamiliar to some readers. It
reflects historic change in the ways in
which exhibits are developed and an un-
derstanding of current standards of prac-
tice.TO be effective,contemporaryexhib-
its need to be based on careful planning,
structured so that the visitor need not
strugglefruitlesslytofindsomemeaning in
the experience. This planning must be
supported by design judgement and tlie
ability to utilize effectively the physical
potential of exhibit elements.
The origin ofthis unique programmegoes
back to 1981 when a group of museum
exhibition directors and independent
29
Jane H.Bedno

exhibition designers met at a meeting of Combining theory and practice

the American Association ofMuseums to
form an association of exhibitionpracti- The original plan immediatelyunderwent
tioners.This group,which called itself some changes.The university’sinitial in-
the National Association for Museum tenthad been to acceptonly studentswith
Exhibition (NAME), set out to define the undergraduate training in the fine and
profession of museum exhibition plan- applied arts, and the original curriculum
ning and design,and to advance it to focus was almost entirely on skills devel-
some kind of parity with other profes- opment,with the execution of an exhibi-
sions within the museum world.One of tion ‘project’as the student’sterminaltask.
the requirements for this professional The rapid changes in American museum
definition was the identification of the philosophy and aimssuggestedto me that
particular combination of training and a broader approachshouldbe taken,both
experiencethat would provide the nec- inchoiceofstudentsand in the curriculum
essary base forprofessionalcompetence. content. When I accepted the director-
NAME conducted informal surveys and ship,it was with the university’sagree-
meetings over several years to develop ment to accept students with a strong
a consensus within the field on stand- academic undergraduate background,
ards for such training.The University of even though lacking in formal visual-arts
the Arts expressed interest in establish-training,and to enlarge the curriculum to
ing a graduate programme based on include a greater focus on audience stud-
these guidelines. In consultation with ies, conceptual process and learning
NAME,a curriculum was developed.As theory.The final project was expanded
a long-time member of the board of and combined with a written thesis,no
directors of NAME, and an academic longerlimited to the execution of a formal
already heading a graduate design pro- museum exhibition (though not exclud-
gramme,I found the concept of a Master ing this as a choice). Overall,I felt it was
ofFine Arts Program in Museum Exhibi- important to focus primarily on process,
tion Planning and Design profoundly not product,but with a recognition that
exciting and, in 1990,I accepted the exhibitionprofessionalsmust have a basic
directorship and w e enrolled our first grasp of the skillsutilized by practitioners
student cohort. as well as the theory.Students with no
design experience acquire basic ‘drawing
The University of the Arts is a unique board’skills,including a familiarity with
institution,a true, albeit small,univer- typography,aworkingknowledgeofdraft-
sity focused entirely on the arts,with a ing,designdrawing,computer-aideddraft-
distinguished history and international ing (CAD), and a number of computer
recognition.The formation of the exhi- word- and image-processingprograms.
bition programme, and a sister pro- They also acquire a physical and intellec-
gramme in museum education, repre- tual grasp of the effects of space,light,
sented a decision on the part of the psychokinetic experience,and the effects
university to expand its activities into of perceptual/sensoryexperience.Studio
specialized areas,particularly those ad- courses address environmental design,
dressing the new and developing wayfinding,graphics,lightingtechnology,
modalities of communication, and to traditional collections installation,access
create very specific, focused ‘niche’ issues,materialsand methods ofconstruc-
graduate programmes. tion,and electronic media.Lecturecourses
Q UNESCO 1995

and symposia discuss museum history,
administrationlaw,ethicsand visitorstud-
ies. The core course, a three-semester,
twelve-hour a week studio,directs the
studentsin a progression of projects from
simple three-dimensional concepts,
through the developmentof thematically
based,smallinteractiveexhibitsand larger,
collections-based exhibits. It ends in a
semester-longproject in which students
work in larger teams with a regional
museum to plan and design an actual
exhibit, producing exhibit drawings, a
formal proposal,budget figures,sched-
ules ancl the necessas. documentation
that goes into exhibit production.
The training seeks to give every student a
fundamentalunderstandingof the process
of creating meaningful exhibitions by in-
cluding a strong theoreticalelementcover-
ing semiotics, the effects of space,
physicality,light,symbolicimagery,expe-
riential media,written and spoken text.It
teaches them to recognize the integrity of
contentand collections,and to understand
the importance of the context which the
visitor brings to the experience.Seminars
address structure and metaphor,the rela-
O UNESCO 1995
~~
Training for a changing profession
f . .. .-”-
tionship of arts and society,and criticism. Thesis nzodelfol- au ~~I~iDitioiz,Dragons:
The training is divided into the traditional Beasts of the Imagination,Oased 012 t h
course structure of the university,but the zuoridzuide existence of the drcIgo?z as a
course inaterials are integrated so that a mythical cziltzwai eiemizt.
project will be addressed simultaneously
inseveralclasses:CAD technologyislearned
by drawingfloorplans and exhibitcompo-
nents,graphic approaches are addressed
in another course, and basic issues of
content and direction are the core of the
major studio experience.The first year
prinlarily deals with the conceptual and
planning process,and the acquisition of
basic skills,and the secondyear includesa
practicum in which all students act to-
gether on a team basis. Throughout the
three-semestermajorstudiosequencethere
is an increasingfocus on team-based,col-
laborativeprojects.After oneyearofstudy,
students enter an internship which re-
quires that they be actively engaged in
departmentalactivitiesin theirhost institu-
tion and not simply observers. Most
internships have been remunerated,and
the hostshaveincludedanumberofdistin-
guishedAmerican art,science,history,and
cliildrens’museums,and some less tixii-
tional museum venues, such as eco-
museums, zoos, botanical gardens and
e 31
Jdize H.Bedno

aquariums.Severalstudentshave returned The theses have taken many forms.An art

to their internship institutionsat the end of historianstudentwith personalknowledge
their studiesto accept permanent employ- of relevant collections included specific
ment.For students with no prior museum curatorialidentificationand attributionsfor
experience,a second internshipis encour- the artefacts displayed in an exhibition
aged. Although course work and the re- plan for a thematic exhibit on dragons,
quired museum internship are completed which was unique in incorporating expe-
in two years,and the thesis may be com- riences designed for children within the
pleted simultaneously,the majority of stu- formalexhibition.A thesis produced by an
dents remainin residenceat least a further architect addressed the historical architec-
semester to complete their work and pre- tural content as well as the exhibition
pare themselves to enter (or re-enter)the scheme,while structuring a process by
profession. which a city could interpret a range of
externalhistoricalsites.Some ofthe strong-
est theses represented exploration into
An emphasis on innovation subject-matter entirely unknown to the
author.A student with a theatrical back-
The combined thesis and project is the ground proposed a potentially effective
single most demanding element of the exhibit on waste and re-use,designed for
entireprogramme.Studentsare required to a sciencemuseum,incorporatingprogram-
identify and focus on an issue or need that matic elements to encourage behavioural
has not been fully addressed in museums. changesin the audience.A historiandevel-
Simple redesign of a basic exhibition con- oped a thematic exhibit on the emotional
cept which already exists in the literature and culturaleffect ofthe development and
and/or on the museum floor is not suffi- use of the atomic bomb. An early thesis
cient,and most have risen to meet this used the book Alice iiz Wonderlandas the
challenge.The power of the fresh,young narrative basis for an exhibit on scientific
(and sometimesnot-so-young)mind ofthe concepts relating to perception.Another
graduate student,paired with the time to detailed a scheme for incorporatingtem-
do appropriate research and to engage in porary museum exhibitswithin the perma-
the necessary reflection,has produced a nent core of a shopping mall.One thesis
number of very exciting,fully worked-out presented a careful analysisofthe needs of
exhibition scenarios.Thesis students are smallermuseums for a system for display-
not required to follow traditional research ing temporary exhibitions and designed
protocols in developing their exhibit con- such a system,carefully considering stor-
tent(though scrupulousattentionto gener- age,re-useand the ecologicalimplications
ally recognized factual bases is required), of display materials.Another focused on
and it is expected that informal front-end the development of standardsfor graphic
studies w i
ll be utilized to test the initial information display in exhibits. W e are
premise.Strongwriting skillsare demanded now exploring the possibility of some
of students,reflecting the expectationsof collaborative component in the thesis
the profession.In the United States,a mu- process,lookingforopportunitiesforwork-
seum is typically required to include very ing with other disciplines.
comprehensive written materials in any ex-
hibition plan as a basic criterion for seeking The programme has now been in existence
funding,and the programme prepares stu- for four years,and the basic premises are
dents to undertake this responsibility. still being tested,modified and reworked.
33 isi UNESCO i995

Certain interesting patterns have emerged
in the experience of the first three groups
of students to complete their degree re-
quirements,somepredictable,othersmore
surprising. One of the most optimistic
results has been the student success in
obtaining professional positions in the
museum exhibition field,despite the slug-
gish American economy and its effect on
museums. I believe this is because our
students graduate with a greater ability to
address intellectual content and a deeper
understanding of theory than most design-
ers,and,conversely,more practical skills
than most graduates of academic pro-
grammes.Each year,quite without con-
scious planning, the student group has
taken on a distinctcharacterofits own.The
first students to enter,in 1990,came from
an arts background,with two trained in
fine art, one in photography,one in art
history,and threein the applied arts.Three
had prior experienceworking as relatively
low-ranking museum staff-members.All
are now working in museums or with
design consultancies.The secondgroup to
complete the programme was more di-
verse:a theatrical-setdesigner,an interior
designer,a museum graphic designer with
an undergraduate degree in political sci-
ence,a constructionforemanwith a gradu-
ate degree in theatre/dance,a naturalist
and an art historian who had spent some
years out of the work-force.The builder/
choreographer is now director of exhibi-
O UNESCO 1995
~ ~-
Training for a changing profession
tion planning and design at a museum of
life sciences;his graphic designer/political
science classmate co-ordinatesexhibits at
a museum of health and medicine; the
interior designer works with a major de-
sign firm;the set designer manages exhib-
its at a science centre;and the art historian
is acting as registrar for a collection of
historical archives while completing her
thesis.The third group to enter is only just
beginning to look for places in the work-
force. Only one, an architect,has com-
pleted her thesis,and she is currently em-
ployed with a design consultancythatplays
a major role in the design of zoo eLxhibits.
So, what pattern is emerging? Students
clearly do not change entirely when they
enter tlie Museum ExhibitionPlanning and
Design Program.Their ultimate success is
a product of the combination of skills,
experiences and native intelligence they
bring with them, and their training in
museum exhibition creates a framework
for utilizingthesevery individualattributes
in the museum world.In the two or more
years they spend in Philadelphia,they
acquire an understanding of the process
of museum exhibition development, a
process that the profession itself is still
defining.It is too early to try to estimatethe
effectwhich theprogrammeitselfw i
llhave
on the museum exhibition profession,but
our alumnae provide an exciting glimpse
of the potential. rn
33
The Primates Gallery: tradition meets
innovation at the Natural History
Museum in London
H o w can contemporaryexhibitiondesign
be integratedinto older buildings without
seriously modifying or destroying the
34 ISSN 1350-0775,Mzcsettrn Zntenzntional (UNESCO,Parisl,No. 185 (Vol.47, Na.1,1995)
IUAished by Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road, Oxford,OX4 1JF (UK)and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,MA 02142 (USA)
originalarchitecture?This all-toocommon
problem found a most uncommon
solution at the new Primates Gallery
installed in the Natural History Museum in
London,a richly decorated high Victorian
building.
The gallery site on the firstfloor of the main
hall is bounded on one edge by abalustrade
and on the other by magnificent stained-
glass windows.It formerly housed a series
oftall dark wooden cases containingstuffed
animalspecimens,which blocked the view
of the double heightstained-glasswindows
from the central hall and presented bland
case backs to the eye.
The firsttask was to open out this spaceby
re-sitingthe cases elsewhere in the mu-
seum and to deal with the new work in as
transparent a manner as possible.
The result is an exhibition,approached by
themain stair,which sitsupon a new raised
deck running the full 36-metrelength of
the balcony aisle. The six existing bays
which comprise the balcony aisle set up a
rigorousarchitecturalorder and define the
rhythm ofthe exhibition,each bay concen-
trating upon a particular subjectwithin the
overall theme.
The deck,built in dark slate to match the
colouring of the banded terracottaof the
existing building, provides a zone for
organizing the cabling and the complex
projection systemswhich are an innova-
tive feature of the gallery. Glass steps
linking the deck to the existing mosaic
floor,punctuate the bays at each of the
principal existing structural lines,rein-
force the rhythm and give access to a
seriesofvantage points overlooking the
magnificentmain hall.Bronze,glass and
stone are the materials used,referring to
those of the existing building,and are
expressed in a minimal and contempo-
O UNESCO 1995
 The Primates Gallery:tradition meets innovationat the Natural History Museum in London

rary manner. The new architecture re-

flects the tradition of the building while
setting itself apart as a clearly separate
insertion.

The exhibition is intended to work at

several levels of interpretation with
one side being organized in a more
familiarmuseologicalmanner of display
cases,lecterns and text,artefacts,casts,
illustrations and interactive displays.In
contrast,the stained glass window wall
lays down threads of humanity’screa-
tive role through artistic endeavour,
the introduction of poetry and specially
commissioned pieces of sculpture.
The notion of the traditional display
case is updated to today’stechnology
by using 3.6 m high, minimally sup-
ported glass panes in their place. The
panes support sloping glass lecterns
which carry film sequences projected
through the free air via a complex opti-
cal glass sandwich and mirror system.
These tall screens echo the scale of
the existing architecture,while allowing
the quality of the stained-glass win-
dows to remain apparent, and are
overlaid with ‘supergraphic’subject
titles. Specially composed music and
sound patterns tie the entire exhibition
together.

The whole compositionmay be seen as

a meeting point of two traditions: the
architectural traditionset by the original
gallery and the museological traditionof
the Natural History Museum. Through
the series of exhibition bays,principles
such as physical characteristics,learning
ability, communication, social behav-
iour and conservation are examined.By
making comparisons between human-
ity and other primates, the visitor is
no longer merely an external observer
but an onlooker engaged in self-obser-
vation as well,thus gaining a sense of
proximity to fellow primates.Although
drawing much of its inspiration from
the past, the new exhibition may be
seen as experimental and forward
looking.
Photos by courtesy of Pawson William
Architects

O UNESCO 1995 35
Total immersion:new technology
creates new experiences
John C.Stickler

Netu constvzrctio~amaterials a n d H o w can today’smuseums compete with technology to allow today’smuseums to

electronic media bave changed theface
of rnriseziin exhibits tiboughout the
world.The days of thepassiiie spectator
are long gone, saysJohn C.Sticklei; and
maiseLiin rlisitors are iizcreasiitgly drawn
into thê very heart of an exhibit, where
t h q iniistparticipate a n d react. ïhe
author ziirites boob a?zdarticles on
business and travel topicsfiom bis adobe
bonae in the Arizona desert.His interest
in the artficial environments created by
a rzeigbbowing coinpany inspired this
article.
2 on human history, culture and science.
U
.Lf
:
!
i
3 Today,these categoriesareexpandingand
C
C
I
television?Viewers are captivated by the hold their own with television,films and
action and excitement on the TV screen video games.If the diorama is the stereo-
while museum visitors face only static typic example oftraditionalmuseum pres-
exhibits in glass cases. entation, the ‘immersion’concept takes
away the viewing window and allows the
It is a challenge being faced and met by public to walk right into the exhibit.
museum administrators worldwide who
Historically, institutions of ‘recreational’
see the need to keep their visitors enter-
public learning interpreted their collec-
tainedwhile presenting theuniqueform of
tionswithinfairlynarrowboundaries:ZOOS
educationthat only museums can provide.
displayed terrestrial animals, aquarium
Two key words, ‘immersion‘and ‘inter- tanks were filled with fish,botanical gar-
action’,combine with newly developed dens grew plants,while museums focused
The exhibit techniqueswere also limited:
zoos had cages, botanical gardens had
greenhousesand museums had dioramas.
This is no longer true.
the lines between them are overlapping.
Museum administratorsfind that they can
borrow good ideasfrom zoosand gardens,
from playgrounds and theme parks (like
Disney World), to improve greatly their
power to educate while significantly en-
hancing the enjoyment of their visitors.

‘Much of the progress in naturalistic

exhibitry is a direct result of advances in
scientific and biological knowledge, as
well as the availabilityofnew technologies
and construction materials’,according to
Daniel Kohl,vice-presidentfor design of
the Larson Company in Tucson,Arizona.
ThisAmerican company is a pioneer in the
creation of realistic,natural environments
for zoos,gardens and aquariums around
A Larson the world.
Cornpany artisan
puts thefinishing Advances in exhibitry,Kohlpoints out,can
touches to an be credited to new construction materials
artficial such as urethanes, vinyls, acrylics and
Mozintaiîz O a k epoxies and the latest electronic technolo-
Tree, Tucson, gies ofcomputersand robotics,fibreoptics
Arizona, 1993. and lasers.

36 ISSN 1350-0775,bfzrserini International (UNESCO.Paris!, No. 185 (Vol.47.No. 1,1995)

CEi UNESCO 1995
Pubiished by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, OxFord,OX4 IJF (UK)and 238 Main Street,Cambridge, M A 02142 (USA)
 Total immersion:new technology creates new experiences

Exploration,discovery and analysis The dig is tied to the indoorPalaeontology

Hall where preserved dinosaur skeletons
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and match re-createddinosaur sculpturesout-
History in Texas has 2,800mzof indoor side. ‘Wealso salt the “bone bed” with
exhibitspace and some 1.1 million visitors small stone fossils,which are plentiful in
each year. It is one of nine American the Fort Worth area’,Otto adds.‘Thechil-
museums validated by the National Sci- dren identify them and may take them
ence Foundation. The administrators home as souvenirs.They love it.’
wished to add exhibitspacewithout incur-
ring a major expense,and they wanted This activity takes participants through
something interactive- an exhibit where the three stages of the scientific method:
visitorscould do somethingand somehow exploration,discovery and analysis. It
involve themselves in the educational is therefore a much more meaningful,
process. and memorable, experience than peer-
-
ing through a glass case or watching
Don Otto, director of the Forth Worth television.
Museum.relates:
Access to the outdoor Dino Dig is only
In 1988 dinosaurremainswere discov- through the museum and is controlled by
ered in a creek bed in North Texas,a staffmembers.Otto reportsthatanaverage
new species from the Cretaceous Pe- of 1,000visitors a day visit the sandbox,
riod,113 millionyears ago.W e wanted some staying as long as t m 7 0 hours.
to capitalize on the excitement which
swept the area. The formal entrance Security is not a question for the facili-
courtyardofthemuseum enclosed 9,000 ties and sculptures inside the fence,but
square feet [approximately840 m21of the 12-metre replica of Acrocan-
open space,which gave us room to thosaurus (a carnivorous relative of
construct a 4,500square foot iapproxi- Tyrannosaurus Rex) in front of the mu-
mately 420 m21sandbox with an artifi- seum posed a problem.Not long after its
cial stream and Cretaceous limestone installation,night visitors began break-
outcropping along one side. ing off and stealing its 13-cm fangs,
despite a protective barrier of thorny
The project, a very interactive concept, holly bushes.The problem was solved
opened in May,1993.It was designed and with the installation of motion-sensors
constructed by the Larson Company at a in the trees above the dinosaur.If any-
cost of $500,000. one approaches the beast,they trigger
the water sprinklers in the ground. N o
Filled with sand,1 metre deep,the sand- replacement teeth have been needed
box became the ‘DinoDig’.Artificial dino- since.
saur bones ofvarious sizeswere buried in
the sand:a 2-metre-longfemur,a vertebra
chain,a leg bone and a skull,each from Botanical gardens
differentspecies.Visitors,mostly children,
are given lucite tools to dig with and Botanical gardens are assuming more and
become ‘palaeontologists’.As they un- more ofan educationalrole,evolvingfrom
cover the bones,museum staff help them lovely,formal English and European rose
identify their discoveries. gardensto elaborate,living,arborealshow-
O UNESCO i995 # 37
Joh~iC.Stickler
Mars seyfacesimzrlation,NationalAir
and Space iMuseLinî,Sin ithsoizian
Institiition,Washington,D.C., 1992.
38
cases of rare flora and fauna. The 20-
million-dollarPail ofEuohtioii,completed
at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 1988,
was inspired by the earlierJrrngle Worldat
the New York Bronx Zoo. The Royal
Gardens at Kew,in London,are now in the
planning stages of an immersion exhibit
which w il
l be a similarly complex, en-
closed educational space interpreting the
development of plants.
These glass enclosures have evolved from
simplegreenhousesto twenty-firstcentury
environmentsableto replicatenatural con-
ditions from billions of years ago.Visitors
are immersed in natural history,plunging
into a rain-forestof vegetation and plants
which became extinct before the dawn of
mankind.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science
in Texas,provides an example of state-of-
the-artnatural exhibitry.With 2.3million
visitors in 1993,the museum ranks fourth
in the USA in numbers of visitors.During
1994, the museum added 8,300m3 of
exhibit space,at a cost of $19 million.
Inside is a 2,300m’Butterfly House/Tropi-
cal Rain-Forestexhibit housed in a conical
glass structure 17 metres high.
‘It is an immersion environment,’says
Hayden Valdes,Director of Exhibits.‘ W e
want to transport the visitor to another
place.’The rain-forestincludes a waterfall
over 12 metres high,a replica ofan ancient
Mayan temple,a grottowater feature,tropi-
cal flowers,medicinal plants,a huge (arti-
ficial) canopy tree,live Piranha fish,blind
cave fish,and ‘thousands’ of butterflies.it
is designed to handle 6,000visitors a day.
Visitors wil
l enjoy not only the visual
experience of being inside a rain-forest,
but also the humid atmosphere, natural
odours and sounds of the jungle.Visitor-
activated sound systems, controlled by
computers,w illensure that anyonereturn-
ing to the same spot on the path w
il
l hear
differentjungle noises than before.
Museum spokespersonTerre11Falkreports
that visitors may actually walk through
swarms of colourfulbutterfliesin the natu-
ral habitat.The butterflies come from Asia
and Central and South America. ‘ W eare
raising one-thirdof them ourselves,’she
boasts,‘inour own butterfly hatchery.’
Another jungle w il
l soon open in the
neighbouring stateofOklahoma.TheTulsa
Q UNESCO 1995
 Total immersion:new technology creates new experiences

ZoologicalPark,called a ‘livingmuseum’, controlledelephanttrunkwhich the visitor ne ai-tificinleizviyomieiit in the

attracted 500,000visitors in 1993.It is also can operate.You know,there are 40,000 Biodoolne,Montreal, Canada, 1991.
constructing a rain-forestexhibit,planned nerves in an elephant’strunk.’
to cost $5 million and to occupy 1,700mz
under one roof 15 metres high. Thanks to the new technology,museum
visitors can also be ‘immersed’in outer
According to Zoo director David Zucconi, space.W%ereNext,Coltimbtd is an exhibit
‘Thiswill be an immersive type of exhibit, at the National Air and Space Museum
plantwise, it w i
ll be a complete jungle (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution in
experience.The vegetation w ill be exclu- Washington,D.C.Opened in December
sively Central and South American,with 1992, it is one part of the ‘ExploringNew
fish,reptiles and animals.In this exhibit, Worlds’section ofthe gallery and includes
the human inhabitants w ill be given key a realisticsimulationofthe surfaceofMars.
play.Too many botanical displaysomitthe (The NASM averages8-9 million visitors a
native peoples.Our visitors w il see exten- year.)
l
sive cultural ruins in the rain-forest.’
Using imagery projected back to Earth
Zucconi speaks highly of the new science from the Viking orbiters and landers,a
availableto museums:‘Anyexhibitcan be reddish ‘rock’landscape was created of
enhanced with new technology.W e try to urethane foams to duplicate precisely the
incorporate the latest audiovisual equip- sizes, shapes,colours and textures of a
ment in our new installations.In the fall of section of Kasei Valles,a steep canyon on
1994 we are opening a new elephant the red planet.Iteven appearsto be coated
exhibit;it wil tie in with our diorama of with a thin layer of red Martian dust.A 27-
l
ancient mammoth kills by Palaeo-Indians metre mural and specialsoftlighting create
inthisarea.W e are developinga robotically the ambiance of a sunrise on Mars.
O UNESCO 1995
i) 39
John C.Stickler

Visitors walk on to the simulated Martian
landscape and can choose two paths.One
leads to a human habitatwith a live hydro-
ponic garden,built into the rock surface,
which grows lettuce,strawberriesand to-
matoes from seedssupplied by NASA.The
otherpath leadsto a twenty-four-seat thea-
tre where three filmson space exploration
are shown continuously.
ProjectManager Victor Govier reportsthat
discussions are underway with the Gov-
ernment of Spain to duplicate the Mars
exhibit in that country.
‘Asthey leave the gallery,’Govier points
out,‘visitorsare given an opportunity to
participatein a poll by touchingan interac-
tive computerscreen.They are asked if the
United States should continue space ex-
ploration,and whether it should be done
by humans orrobots.Overwhelmingly,the
answeris yes,and theywant liveexplorers
out there.’
The Teirors of the Deep exhibit leads visi-
tors through a clear acrylic tube,right into
large sea-watertanks oflive sharks,Moray
eels and barracuda.
‘It takes people into the ocean environ-
ment,’saysJerryGoldsmith,vice-president
of Sea World. ‘Beforeentering the tube,
visitors watch a four-minutemovie.Then
the screens lift up to reveal the sharks
waiting for them.Under the water,speak-
ers play mood music as they walk through.
Each day, 30,000-40,000people pass
through the exhibit,which cost $6 million
to construct.
‘Thesharks are a Hollywood touch to get
people’sattention,’confesses Goldsmith.
‘Wetrick the visitors into listening to an
environmentalmessage.Systematically,w e
dispel many of their fears of the sea and
then advise them that the greatest “terror”
would be to destroy these marvellous
creatures through man’scarelessness.’

The Larson Company was instrumental in

Total immersion the design and installationofthe five state-
of-the-artfacilities mentioned above.
A dramatic application of the concept of Larson’s vice-president Kohl concludes,
immersion would be to put the visitors ‘Theinterwoven complexity of the natural
under water face-to-facewith the fish. world demands that our exhibits be a
Thanks to modern technology,Sea World synthesis of technologies and an integra-
is now doing just that at its popular tion of Nature’ssubplots into a compre-
aquarium/park in Orlando,Florida. hensive story.’

40 O UNESCO 1995
Making sense of space
Raymond Montpetit
Exhibitions obey an inner logic thatgoes
beyond the mere study of the objects on
display.Increasingly impired by
narrative techniques c o ~ n 1 ~ oton the
media, they oftenfollow a ‘scenario’
designed to deliver a clear message to a
well-defznedpublic.ne author is
director of the Master’sDegree
Programme i13 Museology at the
University of Quebec in Montreal.
ISSN 1350-0775, Miiseum hitentational (UNESCO,Paris), No. 185 (Vol.47,NO. 1, 1995)
O UNESCO 1995
Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JF (UK)and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 (USA)
The question of space is central to a be exchanged,in their social dimension,
number of philosophical systems.Things and areas offering access to new worlds
are always perceived as being juxtaposed through the imagination,exhibitions can
‘
in space,and it is in space that w e appre- lay more than one claim to being spatial
hend external reality.Space,especially in phenomena.
termsofdepth,iswhere the primordiallink
between thingsand selfislocated;Maurice
Merleau-Pontygoes so far as to assert that Exhibitions:objects, displacement
‘existenceis spatial’.W e shouldlikehere to
reflect on some aspects of an essential The first condition that has to be met for a
featureofexhibitions,namely that they are museum exhibitionto be organized has to
a spatial medium and that their specific do with space;objects have to be moved
function is to situatethings in space and to and brought together in a new environ-
give objects and meanings a place. ment,the display area.For the time being
orfortheforeseeablefuture,the objectson
The exhibition can be defined in terms of display are no longer in their usual envi-
space by reference to both intrinsic and ronment, that is, where they would be
extrinsic properties.Internally,it is related expected to be found in everyday life,
to space because it is a place where people where they might logically be deemed to
go to follow a circuit and because it serve a functionalpurpose.While the de-
spatializesmeaning forthevisitorby means mands of curiosity and study make such
of the material objects that are brought culling necessary, w e know, too, that,
together and displayed. when museums are being set up, the
removal of monuments and works of art
Externally,and in more general terms,the gives rise to controversy.Some see their
exhibition is something that relates to so- relocationas an appropriateand necessary
cial space.It is situated within a ‘social’ means of preserving them in the interests
context,where it is a place,among others, of knowledge and transmission to future
for culturaldissemination;it contributesto generations,whereas others regard their
theproductionand flowofmeaningswithin transfer as a subtle form of ‘vandalism’,
the community.By ensuring that cultural since it undermines the real meaning of
objects and values are made visible and these objectsby removing them from their
enabling them to be more readily assimi- original environmentand thus preventing
lated, exhibitions also help to build a themfromexercisingthefunctionforwhich
mental image of a space to which we they were intended.
belong. In doing so, they point up our
perceptive relationship to the things sur- The museum environmentasserts itselfby
rounding us,re-creatingin exemplary and neutralizingthe object,severing it from its
concentratedform our existential situation originalmeaning and function,putting it to
as beings ina spatio-temporalrelationship a differentuse.On the one hand,the object
with a world that w e are constantly per- isthus reducedtoitsvisible propertiesand,
ceiving and interpreting in an effort to on the other, being freed of its initial
make it part of our experience and give it associations,it canservepurposes thatw i
ll
meaning. convey new meanings. Exhibitions arise
out of such displacements or transfers of
As areas containing objects in their physi- the objects collected ‘outof their original
cal dimension,areas where meanings can environment’to a different spatial setting.i)
41
Rqmond Monpetit
‘Exhibitionsarise out of such
displacements or transfersof the objects
collected out of their oi-iginnl
enuil-onment.... ’Archedwindow from
the cloister of the Great Camelite
Monastey in Limoges (Grandes Carmes
des Arènes), France, thirteenth centuy,
on.display nt the PlJiladelphin Miiseuna of
A?f.
42
Transporting, collecting,naming; trans-
posing,exhibiting,suggesting;these acts
formed a dynamic sequence conferring
new meaning on the displaced objects in
the eyes ofcollectors and their guests.For
example,the numerous objects kept in
early private collections and cabinets of
curiositieswere arranged less for the pur-
pose of making each and every one of
them clearly visible than according to the
rank assignedto them in the symbolicand
secret order of this ‘worldtheatre’.Simi-
larly,in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries,the arrangement of natural-sci-
ence specimensfor display was based on
known taxonomic principles.The physi-
cal space in which the objects were dis-
played was thus just as meaningful as the
objects themselves. The observer,who
was one of the initiated,familiarwith the
principles of this underlying order,was
able to see both the objects themselves
and their spatial distribution,both the
material substanceand the invisible order
inherentin the overaI1 view presented by
the exhibition.
The logic of the exhibition
Thereare twocrucialstagesin thisprocess:
when the objects are collected and when Of continuing relevance today is the sec-
they are actually put on display. ond aspect of the removal process,when
the presentation of objects is dissociated
both from the collection and from the
The order of the collection principlesinherentin the various branches
of knowledge. Exhibiting now obeys a
For a long time the exhibition was the different logic from that of collecting,it no
collection;there was little difference be- longer means installing a collectionsome-
tween exhibitingand collecting;forming a where permanently.In fact there can no
collection automatically involved its ar- longer be any question of displaying the
rangement and display in the space avail- entire collection.The bulk ofthe collection
able.This meant that the exhibition,the w i
ll go into the reserves,while another
visible aspect of the act of collecting,was space,the museum area that is open to the
simply seen in terms of the space in which public,w il
l house the exhibitions.Exhibit-
the collectionwas laid out,the place occu- ing objects means selecting those associ-
pied by the objects assembled and the ated with a subject decided on by the
meanings suggested by that juxtaposition. exhibition organizer.Two distinct orders
O UNESCO 1995

thencome into play,the orderinwhich the
collection is stored away in the reserves
and the order of display,which is quite
different and follows a logic applicable
only at one particular moment.
Display is thus distinct not only from
collection but also from establishedorders
and categories of knowledge,for it is not
based on any pre-setarrangement.The use
of space no longer suggests or follows a
secret natural order of things,any more
than it is dictated by definitions and cat-
egoriesof knowledgerelated to the nature
of the objects.Even though an exhibition
is based on the findings of research on
history,art history,archaeology and other
sciences,these branches of knowledgeno
longer determine the way in which the
exhibition space is used and items are
arranged within that space. The display
obeys a logic of its own,determining the
way in which the selected items are to be
arranged according to the messages that
are to be conveyed.
6 UNESCO 1995
Making sense of space
A key feature of exhibitions is the fact In so-calledcontextgroupings ‘objects
that they are increasingly designed to are anwiiged as they were in their
appeal to everyone,as a public place originalsetting,thepwpose of the
open to the community at large.Conse- exhibition beiug to re-createCI coniplete
quently,they are partly inspired by sto- “decor’:.. ’Mainstreet iii the Fukagazua
ries told elsewhere,in the popular press, Edo Miseuni, a ~eprodzrctionof a
on television and in the cinema.They niiaeteent~J-ceiitur7/ rizerside district in
tend to follow a kind of ‘scenario’, with Edo, the onginal Tokyo.
an introduction,an exposition set out in
parts, and a conclusion.The aim is to
enable all visitors to grasp immediately
the principles governing the overall dis-
tributionof space and the assemblageof
objects in particular groups. In rather
the same way as the pages of magazines
are laid out with headlines in block
capitals followed by summaries in bold
type and narrative texts in smaller print,
the objects in an exhibition are given a
higher or lower profile,attention being
drawn to major items that set the tone of
the room whereas others are more dis-
creetly placed and provide more de-
tailed supplementary information. The
display thus follows a logical sequence
43
Raymond Montpetit

that is used by other media and familiar The organization and holding of exhibi-
to the public,while preserving thespecific tionsare socialacts and can be seenas one
characteristics of a simultaneous presen- form of the social management of mes-
tation of objects to the view. sages.The exhibitionsorganized undergo
a selection process and must meet the
Two major principles govern the selection criteria that determine what a community
of objects for display.The first is to assem- decidesto selectand display,what it is able
ble a series of objects that have some to think and represent to itself,in short,
feature in common,such as their function what it wishes or is able to talk about.
orthe material ofwhich they are made,that Michel Foucault has described how the
illustrate a chronological sequence,or be- production of messages is controlled,se-
long to the same region,cultureor period; lected, organized and redistributed by
they may be associated with the same means of a number of procedures.The
person or be works by the same artist, messages conveyed by exhibitions,too,
products of the same artistic movement or are governed by these rules.It is not only
relate to the same theme. The second the objects on display that must be taken
principle is that of the so-called context into account,but also social imperatives
groupings,when objects are arranged to such as sponsorship,commissions,inter-
simulate real,recognizableenvironments. national diplomacy, marketing, the mu-
These groups of objects are arranged as seum’spublic relations,national and inter-
they were in their original setting, the national celebrations,etc.
purpose of the exhibition being to re-
create a complete ‘decor’, as in ‘period Exhibitionsare very much part ofa cultural
rooms’or other reconstitutedscenes from policywhich setsouttheirmajor objectives
life,and to try to make visitors forgetthat within broader targets and goals that go
the objects are no longer in their original well beyond the mere study of the objects
setting. themselves.

W e believe that much of the current re-

A social environment and repository vival of interest in exhibitions and their
of our heritage renewed popularity is due to the fact that
they help to define and to transmit to a
Exhibitions are held in a public place,they community ideas and values that are nec-
are eventson the culturaland socialscene, essary for that group to maintain its self-
and,increasingly,great care is taken over image.Exhibitions help to explain things
their promotion.The other media - the and events,placing them in the context of
-
press,radio and television cover exhibi- history and othercultures;they propose a
tions and reproducesomeofthe objects on meaning for human enterprise and make
display,while catalogues,postersand other people aware of being part of it, at a time
souvenirs prolong their life-span.All this when other forms and means of cultural
gives such events a much more far-reach- transmissionare losing their effectiveness
ing impactthan their duration or the actual and potency.
number of visitors would indicate,since
this media coverage reaches out to non- Like a number of other sectors of contem-
visitors who,without having seen the ex- porary culture,the exhibitionsheld forthe
hibition,are aware that it has taken place benefit of a community bring into play
and have some idea of its content. several frames of reference with which
44 Q UNESCO 1995

visitors can identify. Some appeal to
visitors as members of a local group a -
village,city or region;othersplace them in
a national context,their own or that of
other cultures, now or in the past. Yet
others place their visitors within the per-
spectiveofhumanityas a whole,appealing
to auniversalconsciousnessthatisbrought
more sharply into focus by issues like
human rights and the rights of peoples,or
the environment.
The exhibition’sfunctionofgiving tangible
.expressionand shape to loyalties of vari-
ous kinds,placing visitors at the centre of
cultural worlds of varying dimensions,
seemsfundamenta1,tous today.Through it
the exhibition plays a key role in bringing
home to us the sense of belonging to
groupsofbroaderscope,providing,within
a particular group’ssocial environment,a
physical space within which global reali-
ties that concern it can be perceived and
O UNESCO 1995
Making sense of space
‘i3ebulk of the collectioiisziiillgo into
the I’eserues.... Resetves oj‘the Musée
Bourdelle, Paris.
established.Exhibitionsare thus the tangi-
ble expressionof,or a metaphor in,space
for the ‘globalvillage’,the fact that every-
one,while belonging to his or her own
culture is affected by the universal.Be-
cause the heritage ofeach individualis not
only local,regional or national,but also
containselementsfrom even furtherafield,
exhibitions bring these distant elements
within reach and present them as the
heritage of all.
Like otherreproductionmedia,exhibitions
move thingsfrom one place to another and
bring them closer: they put the universe
within our reach by enablingus to feel the
heart-beatof all our different heritages.If
w e think of exhibitionsas presentationsin
spacewe would be inclinedto definethem
today as flexible,accessible environments
that help us continually to broaden the
scope of our heritage and to keep in close
contact with it. w
45
When people talked to stones
Serge Ramond
The Musée des Grafliti Historiques,in the
uillage of Vet7ieiiil-en-Halattein France,
is the only grafliti inuselcm in Ewope.
ilmnks to n technique of stamping a n d
moitlding, these niessages from thepast
have been reconstituted andpreserued
from corrosion,erosion aiid vandalism.
Covering more than 3,000years of
histo y, the collection of some 3,500
plaster casts is the result of a quarter
centiiry of tireless research Spearheaded
by Serge R a m o n d .
Childreîz
absorbed by the
grafliti m a d e by
prisoners at La
Rochelle.
46
Publislied by Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road. Oxford, 0x4 IJF iUKi and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA O?lr2 (LISA)
The stones of buildings carry messages
in their various incised markings and
signs,and these immutablewitnesses to
the passage of time are to be found
scattered aboutin churches,towers,mills
and ancient gaols.You have to get as
close to them as possible in order to
begin the search for a very special and
mysterious world:that of the people of
the past.
Graffiti,so much deplored today and often
with good reason,have been a medium of
popular expressionsince the most ancient
ISSN 1350-0775.MzLseum intenzntioid (UNESCO, Paris,,No. 185 (Vol.47,No. 1, 19951
times,as people have always deliberately
left traces of their existence on the flat
surfaces of their surroundings and dwell-
ings.Even ifdefined as a popular actwhich
is circumstantial,gratuitous and non-aca-
demic,leaving graffiti is none the less a
form of vandalism!One can well imagine
that seventeenth-and eighteenth-century
clergy or the civil authorities of the time
were not pleased with all this damage to
the stones of theirbuildings in the form of
notchesand,attimes,deep incisionswhich
could not fail to impair the beauty of
buildings and could therefore be regarded
as irreversible damage.
Today,however,theseengraved tracesare
of unquestionable scientific interest by
virtue of the vivid information that they
provide about contemporaryconcerns,at-
titudes,customsand behaviour.They rep-
resent the transmission of a collective
memory which has become a fragile herit-
age and which,today,is alreadyfast disap-
pearing.
The omnipresenceof fleeting moments of
existence,frozen in stone,is,indeed,fas-
cinating,and often moving in the case of
graffiti made by long-termprisoners.The
engravingsworked at every day by scrap-
ing away at the stone have become sculp-
tureswhose naïve characterisindissociable
from authentic art bnit.
Althoughthesymbolicmarkingsfrequently
have a Christian orritual connotation,their
ludic,votive or esoteric aspectsstillconsti-
tute a real puzzle.These often naïve forms
ofexpression,most ofwhich are engraved
on churches,were longignoredby thosein
charge of historic monuments.A few re-
searchers became aware of the graffiti
phenomenon and began to carry out local
or thematic research work in various re-
gions to order to write a memoir,a thesis,
or merely an article.
O U N E S C O 1995

Graffiti cannot be considered to in-
clude stone-dressing marks known as
‘de tâcheroi7’(jobbers’ marks) or the
guild members’ signs which medieval
stone-masonswere accustomed to make,
eitherto show the locationof the assem-
blage of stones or to claim authorship of
a constructed section.It was ironically
in 1968 that m y eyes were opened to
the evocative force of graffiti. While
the walls of the student hostels were
covered with graffiti-slogans such as:
‘LaCulture est l’iizversionde la vie (Cul-
ture is the opposite of life)’; ‘Jouirsans
entrave (Unrestricted pleasure)’; ‘Ne
travaillez jamais (Never work) ’;
Consomnzezplus,vous vivrezwzoins(Con-
sume more,live less)’,I was discovering
different graffiti,much more eloquent
and aesthetically interesting. For the
first time, the walls of a church became
artistically fascinatingin the long beams of
the setting sun on a stone engraving worn
away by the very fact of standing there for
six centuries.This is how our quest for the
little details of people’spast lives began,
and still continues today.
O UNESCO i995
When people talked to stones
Serge Rainorad his workshop, making
a plastel.cast.
The first intention was to reproduce im-
ages or writing using the impressing proc-
ess of stamping,and we had to devise a
methodology.After much trial and error
with various materials, w e arrived at a
practicaltechnique.W e woulduse plasticine
to make an imprint of the engraving,and
then make a plaster cast, sometimes in
duplicate.One of these would be used for
printing (on paper), thusavoidingtheneed
to soil the original stone. The second
plaster cast would be placed in the mu-
seum in optimum conditions for enhanc-
ing its historical significance.To achieve
this,the graffiti should,as far as possible,
be set in a very specific context and asso-
ciated with a historical event.
Thismuseographicaldecisionposed a prob-
lem of choice of presentation.H o w was
this disconcertinglyvaried crop of docu-
ments to be classified?The imprints were
taken siteby site and monumentby monu-
ment, thus contributing to the establish-
ment of a general inventory.This site-by-
site inventory had to be supplemented by
a thematic one.For the museum,w e chose
e 47
Serge Ramond

to display them according to site,to facili- the present century.They are milestones
tate individual dating. on a journey of discovery,revealing peo-
ple with their fantasies, their boredom,
An Inquisitionscene,a trial, a burning at their suffering,their protests and some-
the stake,joustingknightsor,more simply, times their hatred as well as theirlove.But
a ship or an epigraph, are all thematic who were the graffiti artists?
subjectsthat must be placed in a temporal
context. To achieve this, a number of They were people of the Palaeolithicwho
parameters must be respected,including painted and carved in caves. During the
the age ofthebuilding onwhich the graffiti Bronze Age, they were shepherds and
were found,the style of the engravings, farmers.In order to exorcize evil spirits or
costumes,objects,type ofarchitecture,etc. to ask the heavens to protect their herds,
they notched amazing scenesand symbols
The date can be established within fifty on rock faces exposed to the sun,thus
years or so. This difficulty partially dis- participating in a magic ritual representing
appears between the sixteenth and eight- hunting,farming and warfare.This type of
eenth centuries,duringwhich period dates rock graffiti was predominant throughout
are clearly shown beside figurative repre- the Alpine chain as far south as Italy,and
sentations and patronyms. likewise on the west coast of Sweden.In
Pompeii,the gladiators in their barracks
But this is not always the case.Collections recorded their victoriousfeatson the plas-
ofplaster castswhich have acquired a faint ter coating of the walls.During elections,
patina create the illusion of being original others would denounce their opponents
stones.They are 380 metres long,situated on walls. O n the road to Santiago de
along a wall and carefully lighted from a Compostela,pilgrims would record their
sourcenearthe floor.Theirhistorystretches journeyby making horse-shoeincisionson
from before 1800 B.C. to the beginning of the limestone of buildings.Similarly,sev-

In the dungeon: a set ofpaster cats of

fourteenth-centuy graflitifrom the
Chateau de Selles in Cambrai.
48 O UNESCO 1995
 When people talked to stones

enteenth-and eighteenth-centuryjourney- pietely ignored the museum,even at the

men stone-masonswould record theirguild regional level!)
patronyms:‘L‘Espérancele Berrichon’,‘La
Verdure Le Picard 1656’,‘JoliCœur de Between 2,000and 3,000visitors a year,
LOUDUN 1648,and so on.Other masons, only half ofwhom pay to enter,together
specialized in roofing,also left traces of with the seventy registered associations
their passage and,sometimes,of a signifi- which are members, contribute to the
cant event: ‘wealth’oftheoperatingbudget.Thisbudget
covers,intw alia,the various administra-
IZ. »OVLIE/MAITRECOWI~EUIIE/DEc m EGLISFJ tive expenses,research trips,documenta-
A. FSïlN LE WU/DIi SOV LA POMMF~26/6/1712.‘ tion and museography.The building that
houses the collectionsdates from 1935.It
Visitors and,often anonymous,passing belongs to the commune,which is respon-
amateurs expressed a whole range of sible for its maintenance.In return, the
Christian-inspired or profane symbols communew il
l inheritall the collections.At
which often defy rationalthought,in the present,an employeeofthe commune acts
spiral staircases of the church towers as a watchman every Sunday.Security is
and on the southern walls of churches. not guaranteed, as there is still no fire
In thirteenth-centuryprisons,powerful alarm,nor is there closed-circuittelevision
images of religious themes, cheek by or proper surveillance of the plaster casts
jowl with political subjects, gradually directly on display to the public.
filled the feebly lit walls.
The only staffare the curator and his wife,
TheVerneuilMuseum re-createsthewhole who work at the reception desk and con-
shut-inatmosphere,preserving and bring- duct guided tours. In future, commune
ing together these importantuniversalves- staff should also provide assistance and
tiges,as a tool of analysis and study for manage the museum, which could be
students of the humanities,and as a verita- opened to the public several days a week.
ble libraq of stones for artists and chasers
of dreams. To visittheiMuseumofVerneuil-en-Halatte,
steeped in memories,is to revisit different
Visitors cannot fail to be impressed by a periods of history, individuals and cul-
visit to the museum.Many groups belong- tures.Those who go therew illtrace a path
ing to associationsavail themselves of the through historical landmarks:unquestion-
guided tours,which last three hours and ably a magical place!
cover more than 3,000years of history on
four exhibition levels.When they leave,it
is with feelings of wonder and awe, and
they often return. Notes

The museum has a modest Operating
budget,receiving a subsidy of9,000francs
from the commune and another of 15,000
francs from the Regional Council.’(The
Ministry of Culture,incidentally,has corn-
I. A referenceto a fire that broke out under
the spire ofbiens Cathedral.
2. Approximately,$1,600 and $2,600,
-
respectively Ed.

O UNESCO 1995 49
Exploring the meaning of life:the St
Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
Scotland k piewest rniiseuwz bas excited
criticism, controversy and vigoroils
praise. B y presenting ca wide-raiiging
oueruieui of a rzzirnber of the uiorld’s
major religions, it deiiuers an avowed
and outspoken message for mutzial
understanding and respect. The author is
Senior Czii’ator of History iiz Glasgow
Miisetitns and led the team which created
the St Mingo Milseuni.Before jointpig the
city inuseuin service in 1990,he was
curator of the independent auiard-
winning Spriizgburn Museum,
acknozuledged as ‘thefirst real
community m u s e u m in Bn‘tain’.
50
Published by Bkackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road. Oxford, OX4 1JF (UK)and 238 Main Street, Cambridge,MA 02142 (USA,!
Nature,according to Immanuel Kant,de- ary between the disciplines and between
vised two ways to separate peoples - secular and sacred.Nor is the project itself
language and religion.It was the task of the result of long-term planning but,like
civilizationto reducethesedivisions,which many museums,of a problem building.A
produce ‘mutualhatreds and pretexts for half-completedvisitor centre next to the
war’.Until very recently many Europeans medieval Cathedral of St Mungo ran into
would have felt that this civilizing had financial difficulties and was rescued by
actually taken place.When the idea of a GlasgowCity Council.The idea ofusing the
museum of religion was suggested in building for a broad survey of the religions
August 1990,somepeople feltthatitwould of the world seemed very exciting and the
be an affirmationthatreligionwas safelyin city’spoliticians,fully aware ofthe potential
the past in a secular society.In Glasgow dangers of the subject,were instantly sup-
however,close as it is through geography portive.it met a number of their require-
and ethnic links to Northern Ireland,most ments. It would be a world-class tourist
peoplewereawareofitscontinuingpower. attraction,to join the Burrell Collection and
The tragic events in Central Asia and in Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. It
former Yugoslavia,along with the resur- would serve local people,for all of whom
gence of anti-Semitismand xenophobia in religion was part of their cultural back-
a unified Germany and the countriesof the ground,even though many were no longer
former easternbloc,testify howeverto the believers.For the staffit was an opportunity
need for constant vigilance in the mainte- to display some of our most powerful ob-
nance of tolerance for difference,whether jects,but not in an anaemic way.It would
racial,religious,cultural or linguistic. allow us to combat racism,by showing
some of the glories of the cultures of the
St Mungo’sis not an ‘objective’ museum.It city’sethnicminorities in a world context.It
exists explicitly to promote a set ofvalues: would allow us to explore a fascinating
respect for the diversity of human beliefs. subject rarely addressed in museums - the
It aims to do this by showing how impor- meaning of life itself!
tant religion has been in humanity’sstrug-
gle to find a meaning forlife.It rangesover With very few models to work from
five continents and over 3,000years,from there was no obvious way to tackle such
Neolithic times to the present.It does not a huge subject.After much discussion
however aim to be comprehensive.Given w e agreed on three main divisions.The
the many thousands ofreligions that have main room would be the art gallery,
existed and still do,this would have been where w e would show objects that com-
impossible.It does however hope to offer municated something of the meaning of
a meaningful sample of the religious ex- the religions they represent directly
perience of humanity. through their aesthetic power.This cre-
ated startlingjuxtapositions,with Salva-
The museum is not the result of systematic dor Dali’s Christ of StJohn of the Cross in
collection of religious objects,but draws the same room as an ancestral screen
upon Glasgow Museums’great reservecol- from the Kalibari people of Nigeria, a
lections of anthropology,fine and decora- seventeenth-centuryTurkish prayer rug
tive art, and local history.It goes beyond and an Australian Aboriginal dreamtime
these disciplines,by trying to display the painting.The room w a s shaped by the
objects in such a way that they retain some architects so that,even though the ob-
oftheirspiritualpower,blurring the bound- jects were of greatly different scales and
ISSN 1350-0775,Mirseiirn hzternntioiznl (UNESCO,Paris). No. 185 (Vol.47,No. 1,1995)
Q UNESCO 1995

visual qualities, all were seen to be
treated with equal respect.
Problems of balance were even greater in
the Life Gallery,which aimed to show how
religionpervadesdailylife,frombirththrough
coming of age, sex and marriage,health,
religionandpolitics,missionaries,war,
peace,
persecution and death.Here objects from
across time and space were gathered to-
gether by theme. Isis and Horus share a
displaywith the Virgin Mary with the Christ
Child and Guan Yin;a book ofTarot cards,
a Yoruba smallpox figureand a holy-water
bottle from Lourdes share another.Joan of
Arc and a suit of armour from an Islamic
Jihad are shown alongside a headhunter’s
shield from Borneo and a twelfth-century
Cmsader’ssword.For persecution w e de-
cided to use a single example,the Holo-
caust,which challengesthe West’sclaim to
‘civilization’,
displaying a prayer book do-
nated by a concentration Camp survivor
who livesin Glasgow today.The objectsare
accompanied by smallphotographs putting
them in context.Interspersedwith the cura-
torial labelsare quotesfrom Glaswegiansof
many faiths who were interviewed about
theirbeliefs.The designersrespondedtothe
challenging complexity of the material by
O UNESCO 1995
Exploring the meaning of life:the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
making plinthswhich were sculptedto hold i%e Religious A7-tGalley,with Salvador
each objectin a spacewhich by itsshape or Dali’sChrist of St John of the Cross,an
relationship to other spaceswas calculated Islamicpra-verrug and Buddhist 06jects
to reveal the meaning of the object. fi-omIndia,Japan and Tibet.
Down the centre of the Life Gallery are
displayson the six main faiths in the world
-Buddhism,Christianity,Hinduism,Islam,
Judaismand Sikhism.The centre also has a
display on the afterlife,the single largest
section,with a procession of funerary fig-
uresfromancientChina,Egypt and Peru,an
Egyptian mummy,a number of judgement
figures(a Ming statue ofYenle and a bronze
Osiris) leading to sectionson Heaven,Hell
and reincarnation,and ongo-betweens(an-
gels,saints and demons).
The ScottishGallery isthematic ratherthan
chronological,and looks at Keeping the
Faith (how religion is passed on from
generationto generation), Protestants and
Catl!olics(the story of the Reformation in
Scotland,and conflictwith immigrant Irish
Catholicsfrom the nineteenth-centuvon-
wards), Charity,Missionaries (especially
David Livingstone) and People and Places
(how Scottish people’s identities can in-
clude affection for a far-offplace, be it
Rome,hitsar,Jerusalem or Mecca).
i) 51
Mark O’Neill
The Zen Garden, with Glasgoui’s
medieval cathedral and the Victoriau
necropolis in the background.
52
The museum is introduced by a short
video,which shows local people of many
faithstalkingaboutwhattheirbeliefs mean
to them.In the courtyard of the museum,
a leading gardenerfrom Kyoto has created
aJapaneseZen Garden.Against the back-
grounds of the Cathedral and the nine-
teenth-centurynecropolis,this austeregar-
den looks as if it has been there from time
immemorial.
Involving the commuaity
After much discussion w e decided to call
the museum after the sixth-centurysaint
who foundedGlasgow.Like many aspects
of the museum, this was the subject of
consultation with various religious com-
munities within the city. Some felt it was
too Christian,while others felt that it was
wrong to use a Christianname for a multi-
faith display.Most agreed however that it
was a good name,as it referredto someone
all children learned about in Glasgow
schools,and reflected the importance of
religion in the life of the city.Our market-
ing departmentadvisedus thatit was more
friendly,memorable and interesting than
simply ‘The Museum of Religion’.The
second part of the title - ‘ofReligious Life
and Art’-reflectsthe factthatthe museum
could only approach the spiritual domain
through works of art or objects used by
people in their daily lives.
Given that the museum opened two and a
half years after its conception and sixteen
weeks after the building was completed
there were practical limitsto these discus-
sions.These were also limitedby our non-
negotiable principles,which were that as
city employees it was not our place to
make judgements as to the merits of the
various religions,either implicitly or ex-
plicitly,and that the museum existed to
promote respect for beliefs different from
one’sown.Though the museum’soverall
purpose was to celebrate humanity’sspir-
itual quest,w e also felt that we had to
reflect the negative aspects of religion,
especiallywith regard to war,persecution,
the treatment of women and the destruc-
tive aspects of missionary work.
W e approached the communitiesindividu-
ally rather than attempting to set up a
committee.W e needed to find out how
they wished to be represented and to
become sensitive to issues of concern to
them.But w e had to take responsibility for
the overall,structureand balances within
the museum. Most groups participated
enthusiastically in the project.The Jewish
and Sikh communitieswere very helpfulin
finding key objectswhich w e did not have
in our collections.The Hindu community
performed ablessing ceremonyfora statue
ofGanesha which w e commissioned from
India. The Education Adviser from the
Central Mosque helped clarify the section
on beliefin the Life Gallery.H e felt that the
mixing of objects in the surrounding cases
would be much more acceptableifeach of
the main religions also had its own space.
What was originally intended as a display
on comparative iconography became a
series of introductions to each of the six
main faiths,as near as possible as it was
conceived by believers.
The museum opened on 4 April 1993.
Many religiousgroupsfound aspectsofthe
Q UNESCO 1995

museum not to their likingand wrote to us,
but most welcomed the museum in princi-
ple.The majority ofthe criticismsrelatedto
omissionsof denominationsor aspects of
religious life which could not be repre-
sented with objects. Others argued that
particular faiths were not given enough
prominence or were diminished by the
inevitable brevity of museum labels.The
mostpubliccriticismscamefromthe Church
ofScotlandwhich argued thatitsrole as the
national church was not sufficiently ac-
knowledged.The museum was also ac-
cused of both under-and over-emphasiz-
ing the amount of conflict caused by reli-
gion and was picketed by feminist groups
for the way in which it interpreted female
genital mutilation.
Itwas praisedby media as diverseas theleft-
wing Workers’Amswhichfeltit ‘wasn’t half
bad’,and the right-wing Spectator,which
said that ‘interms ofinterpreting and inspir-
ing society afresh,the St Mungo Museum is
probably the most important museum to
have been opened in Britain since the V&A
[The Victoria and Albert Museum, 18521’.
One criticfeltthatit redressedthe imbalance
inreligioushistorywhich prefersthewritten
word,when since time immemorial most
people, being unable to read, found in
objectspointers to the divine.Others found
that it was ‘courageous’ and ‘fascinatesat
spiritual and temporal levels’.
W e had been expecting a dramatic re-
sponse,but the storm of negativecriticism
was still something of a shock.Although
someembarrassingerrors in the museum’s
Guidebook weakened our position, w e
adhered to ouroriginalintentionofaccept-
ing all comments as contributions to a
review at the end of our first year and w e
wi
ll make changesthat make the museum
clearer,fairer and more accurate.W e felt
thatthis time for reflectionwas essentialin
such a complex subject. Perhaps more
O UNESCO 1995
Exploring the meaning of life:the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
consultationwould have removed some of The Day of the Dead skeletoiz.
the controversy,but it might also have coti2i7iissiotiedfi.in FilipeLinai-esin
underminedthe civicvalues ofrespectand MeTiCo City especiallyfor the intisemi.
tolerance, and weakened our ability to
tackle the negative side of religion.
In our first six months St Mungo’shas won
threeawardsand received 150,000visitors.
This includes over 80,000 Glaswegians,
about one-skth of the city’spopulation.
Some 84per cent of all visitors thoughtthe
museum was very good or excellent;79
per centprofessed a religiousbelief,and of
these84per centfeltthattheir own religion
had been treated fairly.
Many museums providea longperspective
on the present,or an escape into realmsof
peaceful contemplation of beauty.Others
challenge by addressing difficultor painful
issues.St Mungo’sintegrates all three ap-
proaches,in a way that reflectsthe fact that
culturaland religiousidentities are not just
interesting subjectsof study but matters of
the deepestsignificanceand,insomecases,
matters of life and death.
Note
1.The author would like to thank Elizabeth
Carnegie,Patricia Collins, Harry Dunlop and
Antonia Lovelace for their help in compiling
this article.
53
Collectors and their museums:towards
a specific typology
DoloYS Fnw6 Fo nnllerns
‘Thesmall, intimate mziseum ruhose
existence is oflen due to a singleperson’
is how Museum described the
phenomenon of the ‘single-parent
museum’ (see Museum,No. 172). Dolors
F a m O Fonalleras argues that although
each of these museums is characterized
by its striking individzzrality a n d the
idiosyncratic vision of itsfounder,
c o m m o n tendencies do exist which set
them apartfrom more mainstream
institutions. n e author began her
museum career in the National Art
M u s e u m of Catalonia in 1974 a n d
joined the MilseLi Frederic Mar& in 1985
as consenmtor;she became its director in
1986.
54
Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road. Oxford,OX4 1JF (UK)and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,M A 02142 (USA)
There are some museums that have come make up the particularly homogeneous
into being as a result of donations,and model created in Europe in the mid-nine-
theirfounders’names,insteadofbeing lost teenth and early twentieth centuries.
in anonymity,survive in places that retain
the unitary character instilled into them by In this group,in addition to the museum
theirfounders,thosecalled‘authors’ muse- of Count Poldi Pezzoli (1881)’ and the
ums’,‘single-parentmuseums’or,some- Wallace Collection (1900), could be in-
what imprecisely,‘collectors’ museums’. cluded the Musée Guimet (Paris,18881,
the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Itisdifficulttoseeaspecificmuseographical (Boston,1903), the Musée Jacquemart-
typology for such museums since,in spite André (Paris,1913),the Musée Cognacq-
of the prestige some of them enjoy,there Jay(Paris,1929) and the Frick Collection
is,forexample,no internationalcommittee (New York, 1935). Another museum
covering their activities,and reference to having much in common with these is
them in guide books appears only under the Museu Frederic Marcs, which was
the heading of ‘other museums’ or in created in 1946-48 in Barcelona and
connectionwith thedisciplinecorrespond- which w e describe below.
ing to the majority of the exhibits in their
collections. But the museum that was the precursor
and model,the one thatbecame a compul-
However,considered globally,it is easy to sory targetfor all collectorsofthe era,was
see that they constitutea specia1,sectorof the Musée des Thermes et de l’Hôtelde
museology,which furthermorecanbe very Cluny,which was opened to the public in
interesting if w e consider the variety and 1844.The bulk of its exhibits came from
specificity of such museums. Let us,for thecollectionsofstonecarvingsbequeathed
example,take those closestto theworld of by the municipality of Paris and above all
artists.Here w e will find,to mention but a from the private collection of Alexandre
few,the Ingres Museum at Montauban, D u Sommerard, who had taken up
France - the artist’shouse or workshop in residence inthe palace beside theThermes
which his own collectionis displayed;the in 1832. As well as sculptures and paint-
Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan,a house ings, his collection included ceramics,
converted into a museum to display the secular and religious furniture,gold and
collections;the Wallace Collection, the silver work, crystal,clocks and watches,
museum originallyestablishedin thehouse weapons and locks,enamel work,ivory,
of the illegitimate son of the Marquess of Neapolitan figures, carpets, fabrics and
HertfordinLondon;theNissim de Camondo embroidery,that is, all those items that
Museum in Paris;the houses,palaces and would constitute the basis of many future
castlesthat are open to the public;and the collectors’museums and without which a
collections set up in public buildings or collectionwas not considered complete.
bequeathed to an institution as was the
Dulwich College Picture Gallery in Lon- Collectors’museums today,with their at-
don. mosphere ofprivate houses and littleinter-
est in the outsideworld,are stillstriking by
In the present article w e shall set aside the accumulation of works that reflect the
those that are simply artists’workshops or principal object of their founders.Visitors,
homesthathave been opened tothepublic at first somewhat overwhelmed but soon
and outline a fewthoughtsaboutsomethat soothed by the tranquillity of the exhibi-
ISSN 1350-0775.IçIIIseuwa Intenzntionnl (UNESCO,Paris), No. 185 (Vol.47,No. 1, 1995)
O UNESCO 1995
 Collectorsand their museums:towards a specific typology

tion halls and by the feeling of having The way of displayingthe collections does The studio of Fredellc Mar& whose
‘discovereda museum that seems to have not correspond to scientific systematiza- portrait appears on the left.
been tailor-madefor them,are filled with tion but to an initial decorative scheme
admiration for the person who thought of (emphasizedby thenames ofthe rooms) in
offering them such delight. which there may abound walls covered
with paintingsor collectionsofobjects,the
Every collector’s museum has ‘its own arrangements always guided by an aes-
public’,which cannot be in the majority, thetic sense reflecting the creativity of the
for thatwould imply a contradictionin the collector and a latent wish to impress the
collector’swish to show his treasuresonly ‘spectators’.
Sometimesamonumentalstair-
to those who could appreciate them. case appears,and it is not uncommon to
come across a room in which many of the
Whatever the legal formula adopted for most valuable exhibits of the museum are
the donation,these museums still carry concentrated.
the connotation of ‘somethingdifferent’
and maintain a’certain independence Marked by the historical and contempo-
with regard to the museographical rary development,ofthe cities in which
trends in fashion.The collector not only they are established,collectors’museums
defendsthe form and essence of his or remind us today ofa specificartisticmarket
-
her collection but also so long as it and the reasons for its existence; they
has not been bequeathed - actually illustrate what was indigenous and what
comes to be a powerful part of the appeared as a result ofexternal influences
collection’sattraction. and interchanges.For example,they allow
O UNESCO 1995 55
Dolors Fan0 Foizallems
Re-creation of a niedieual innerpatio
garden in theMineu Frederic &Iarès,
complete with architectural details of
ilainriozisproueizaiace.
us to reconstruct the intellectual structure
of a city or the economic position of a
country and even the changes introduced
into aesthetic trends and the history of art
by those recognized central figures of the
world of the arts.
The legacy of a pragmatic romantic
In 1944 FredericMarès i Deulovolgave the
first public presentation of his collection
and announced his decision to offer it to
the city of Barcelona; the city council
responded by making available a set of
buildings in the process of restorationthat
had formerly housed staff of the medieval
Palacio Real Mayor.The official inaugura-
tion was held in 1948.
I
: ,I
I l
A number of collectors’ museums were
alreadyto be foundinSpain:theBibliotfca-
Museu,donated by the politician,historian
and poet Victor Balaguer to Vilanova y la
Geltru (Barcelona) in 1900,which is probl
ably among the oldest;in 1916 the collec-!
tions,mainly of the applied arts, of the
Counts of Valencia de D o n Juan,which
were establishedin Madrid;the Museu del
Cau Ferrat,which the painter and writer
Santiago Rusifiol left to the city of Sitges
(Barcelona) was inaugurated in 1933; the
Museo Lazaro Galdiano (Madrid), another
ofthe most characteristic,which was inau-
gurated in 1951.
Frederic Marès had such a long life (1893-
1991) that he had more than enough time
to completehis work,which was inspired
by romantic idealism but carried out with
the indispensable pragmatism that also
characterized him. A sculptor, militant
academic and essayist,’he directed the
Higher School of Fine Arts (which he
transformed into a faculty) and that of
Applied Arts and also gave classes in
them.He had come to Barcelona at the
age of 10. His father opened two shops
there inwhich antiquebooks were bought
and sold.That was the source of his love
of books and of his collections,which
expandedrapidly.The financialresources
ofthe familywere limited,and he invested
his intelligence,tenacity and powers of
persuasion in dealing with successive
government departments and above all
the fruits of his career as a sculptor in
building up his collections.
H e thus succeeded in building up two
differentsets of collections.The first of
these was inspired by the purest tradition
of European collections in the mid-nine-
teenth and early twentieth centuries.This
O UNESCO 1995
 Collectors and their museums:towards a specific typology

collection of collections (which today to- construction’with fragments of various

tals over fifty) contains,for example,paint-provenance that would link up with the
ings, ceramics, works of wrought iron, ideas evoked by Alexandre Lenoir (1761-
fans,clocks and watches,furniture,coins 1837)inhisMusée desMonumentsFrançais
and medals,and a large number of objects, and,of course,would be in harmony with
some perhaps rather out-of-the-way, like the Musée de Cluny,including inciden-
the collections of amulets,objects made tally, the placing therein of a fountain,
out ofhair and the phototypes given away which w e do not consider fortuitous,in
with matchboxes.The secondlarge collec- spite of what appearances suggest.
tion was made up mainly ofSpanish sculp-
tures from pre-Roman times to the nine- Likeallcollectors,FredericMar& expressed
teenth century and is ofremarkablescope. his personal view of art in his collection
and created his ideas of museums in real
When Frederic Mar& set up these collec- surroundings. His ideas may be subtly
tionshe was guided by the sameprinciples hidden,but they are always there.
that have governed many collectors’mu-
seums,though the poetry of the collection Efforts have been made on many occasions
is much more obviousin the way in which to ensure that these ideas remain un-
the first,which he called the ‘sentimental changed,but many promisesto perpetuate
museum’,is displayed.For the collection those that the collector himself,with phil-
of sculpture he preferred a more sober anthropic ideals,thoughtwould satisfy his
arrangementand was concernedwith sym- needs for eternity have also been broken.
metry and the linear positioning of the ‘Onecannot sufficiently deplore the origi-
different works in galleries of a certain nal arrangements destroyed in the course
neoclassical style. ofthe century’,A.Mottola Molfino recently
complained with reference to the often-
However, in addition to the exhibition citedMusée de Cluny.3The reformscarried
rooms,the museum must be viewed as a out,the transfer of the Renaissance collec-
whole. W e then find precise references tionsto Ecouen and the depositing ofother
that remind us of the development of taste exhibits in other museums have indeed
and the treatment of the collections and succeeded in blurring an eloquent forgot-
also of the principles of exhibition,since ten statement,that ‘theformalundertaking
private collections came into being as a repeatedly made by the minister that the
type of culture in modern times.Briefly, D u Sommerard collection would be pre-
then,we shallmention the variousexhibits served as a whole and not dispersed in the
that formed a small marginal ‘naturalhis- other public collections’!
tory’collection (with complete skeletons
of animals or fragments of bones,fossils, Collectors’museums are much more diffi-
shells, some representations of natural cult to maintain in their original state than
objects worked by goldsmiths, and so are other types of museums.Upkeep may
forth); catalogueswith a wealth of qualifi- sometimes be seen to lag behind after a
ers and hyperboles aimed at arousing the period ofstagnationduring which,in addi-
curiosityofvisitors;a miniature studiowith tion to the usual technicalproblems (con-
books;the inner patio-gardenwith sculp- cerning installations,environmental con-
tures,reliefwork,some shields,and so on. trol,public areas and so on>,those that
In the Museu Frederic Marès this also has may be inherentin the museum’stypology
the characteristics of ‘archaeologicalre- (the presentationsuggestedby thefounder
O UNESCO 1995
* 57
Dolors Paw6 Fonalleras

advanced,the need for revisions and new

possibilities appeared.W e realized,how-
ever,that the starting-pointthat seemed
the most appropriate was always the one
that,farfrom distancingus from the model,
helped us to rediscover and revive it.

This led us to believe that the futureoption

for collectors'museums might be that of
working on their renewalwhile respecting
their originalshapeand form,that is to say,
of knowing how to concentrate on essen-
tials (the exhibits and appropriate and
effective technical functioning) without
conforming too much to the consumer
option or to the current trend of replacing
the 'privateview thathas to be discovered'
by the 'immediateand rapidly intelligible',
leaving these microcosms founded on in-
dividual temperaments to continue to be
what Mario Praz wanted them to be, 'an-
,, ..
." %te ,,., S."/.. , +.,a.';:,<. ,,,,,,r,.yL,is-,'."..
., e. p,:.,; -.,. .1 .. other centre for fantasy,a fertile soil for
intellectuale~cape'.~ w
Engrauing by A. Godard,published in being altered,the way of displaying exhib
Les Arts du Moyen Age by A.D u its,the lack ofdocumentation,the diversity
Sommerard, represetzting the so-called of collections, etc.) make the technical
'FrançoisPremier Room'in theMusée de work difficult. This is when drastic or Notes
Clzin-vin 1839. partial problems can occur,from a lack of
knowledge of or interest in the original 1. The dates given are those of the dates of
order resulting in its being reduced to a opening to the public.
disordered and incomprehensiblemessage
or even in its losing its original meaning. 2. His memoirs El m m d o fnscinante del
coleccionisrnoy las antigiiedades(Barcelona,
In 1985 we tried to correct some of the 1977) are of particular interest with regard to
problemsencounteredintheMuseuFrederic the topic w e are dealing with.
Marès.W e prepared documentation on the
collectionsand publishedthe firstcatalogue 3. Il libro dei miwei p. 100,Turin, Umberto
in 1991, provided the public with supple- Aiemandi, 1992,CArchivi del collezionismo').
mentary activitiesand made smallimprove-
ments in the installations,etc. 4.M m é e des Thermes et de l'Hôtel de Cluny,
Catalogue et description des objets d'art,de
In 1992 w e setouttowork on a global 'state l'Antiquité,du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance
of the question'.W e organized discussion eaposés au n/liisée,p. ix,n.1,Paris, 1883. '
meetings to be concluded by the drafting
of a document, Remodelado. Primeras 5. See Stefana Susinno, 'Mario Praz,
indicaciones ntuseol6gicas (Remodelling. collezionista',Le Stanze delki Memoria, Milan/
FirstMLiseoloRicalIndications).As thework Rome, Arnold0 MondadoruDe Luca, 1988.
58 O UNESCO 1995
 Protecting cultural property
UNESCO reviews The Hague
Convention
At the end of 1992,UNESCO and the
Governmentof the Netherlandsjointly
commissioned a comprehensive review of
current international humanitarianlaw
relating to the protection of monuments,
museums and other cultural property
during armed conflicts of all kinds
(including civil wars and internal
insurrectionsand not just international
wars in the traditional sense). The
growing international clamour for such a
study and for the strengthening of
international law was,of course,
prompted particularly by the many
dozens,if not hundreds,of cases of
apparent cultural atrocities and of alleged
cultural ‘ethniccleansing’in former
Yugoslavia,though both international
organizations and specialists in the field
had been concernedfor some
considerable time about such issues.
The main focus was the Convention on
the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Event of Armed Conflict,The Hague,
1954 (usually known as The Hague
Convention). However,earlier
internationallaw initiatives and regional
, agreementswere also examined.It was
important to try to discover the reasons
for the apparently deliberate destruction
of the cultural symbols of the actual or
perceived enemy,whether an
international one or just one of a
different cultural or religious community
within the same country.
The report,submitted to UNESCO at the
end of May 1993 after a period of
extensive consultations,makes it clear
that very few of the governments who
have ratified The Hague Convention
have made any serious attempt to meet
their obligations under it. The main text
of the report begins with an historical
review of the evolution of concepts of
cultural protection in times of war over
many centuries through to the Second
ISSN 1350-0775,Mztseicin Iiitenlntionai (UNESCO,Paris), No. 185 (Vol.47,No. 1, 1975)
6 UNESCO 1795
Published by Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road,Oxford,OX4 1JF (UK)and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,MA 02142 (USA)
World War. It then analyses,subject by
subject,both the detailed provisions and
the perceived problems of application of
current internationallaw,including
questions of definition,that is,the
concepts of ‘protection’, ‘safeguarding’
and ‘respectfor cultural property’,as
these terms are applied in international
humanitarian law.The chapter on
peacetime preparation for the
application of the Convention clearly
demonstrates that its effectiveness
depends very much on the obligation of
states parties to take appropriate action
well in advance of any prospect of war.
This should include preparation for the
physical protection of monuments,
museums,major libraries and archive
repositoriesand their collections in the
event of any possible armed conflict,
whether internationalor internal.
Unfortunately,since 1954 only a tiny
handful of states,such as Austria,
Switzerland and the Netherlands,have
made serious efforts to meet their
obligationsunder this aspect of the
treaty.The same is true of the
obligations to introduce suitable legal
obligations and sanctions within
domestic military and criminal law in
order to enforce the country’s
obligations under the Convention.It has
been established,at least since the
Nuremberg trials following the Second
World War,that grave offences against
cultural and religious symbols and
cultural property in genersl can be tried
and punished as war crimes,and that
the primary obligation to investigate and
prosecute such war crimes rests with the
individual states with a relevant interest.
Normally this obligation applies in
relation to war crimes occurring on a
state’sown territory or carried out by its
own military personnel or other
nationals in any part of the world.
However,for the first time since the
1940s,an InternationalWar Crimes
Tribunal has been established in relation
+ 59
Protecting cultural property
to recent atrocities in former Yugoslavia,
and cases of ‘cultural’war crimes are
being vigorously pursued for the tribunal
at the present time.Indeed,the report
stresses the importance of the successful
prosecution of some test cases in the
United Nations Tribunal in order to send
a clear message to the world in relation
to other conflicts.
In view of the growing alarm about what
has been and is still happening in the
civil wars and other internal conflicts of
the past few decades,particular attention
was paid to the apparently growing
phenomenon of deliberately targeting
important cultural and religious symbols
of the perceived enemy.This has been
perhaps most visible in former
Yugoslavia due to the presence of the
internationalmedia.It is evident that this
alarm and concern is entirely justified on
the basis of the facts,and is not some
sort of media hype or propaganda by
one or another of the warring factions,
though there have probably been
examples of both.In far too many cases,
eliminating all visible evidence of the
presence of ‘theother’has not been an
accident of war but an important war
aim in itself.
The United Nations was in fact most
anxious to see ‘culturalgenocide’
specifically defined and outlawed in the
1948 Genocide Convention.Tragically - 1993.(Document ref. CLT-93/WS/12)
in the light of subsequentevents - this
provision was deleted from the final text
at the insistence of some democratic
powers,concerned about the
implications of such a concept in
relation to their policies on the active
promotion of their ‘national’languages
and cultures both in their home
territories and their colonies.
60
The report concluded that there is little
that is basically wrong with present
internationallaw,particularly the 1954
Convention:the continuing problems are
due to failures in implementation.One
of the highest priorities must be to get
all countries formally to ratify and
implement it. At present,several major
internationalpowers have not ratified
the Convention;they include the United
States,Canada and the United Kingdom.
In addition,there are entire regions of
the world,notably Latin America and
subSaharan Africa,where only a
minority of states have adopted it. The
report therefore concludes with a series
of recommendations addressed to
UNESCO,the United Nations,to states -
whether parties to the Convention or not
- and non-governmentalorganizations,
and a number of proposals for possible
amendments and additions to the
Convention itself if it is revised.
In order to promote as wide a debate as
possible on the study and its
recommendations,the Division of
Physical Heritage of UNESCO is
distributing the report free of charge in
both English and French editions.The
full reference is: Patrick J. Boylan,
Review of the Convention o n the
Pvotection of Culteira1Propevty in the
Euent of A r m e d Conflict, (The Hague
Convention of 1954), Paris,UNESCO,
Editor’s Note: Patrick J. Boylan, author of
this article and of the U N E S C O report,is vice-
president of the International Council of
Museums (ICOM)and Head of the
Department of Arts Policy and Management,
City University, London.
O UNESCO 1995
 Books

Books
Managing New Museums: A Guide to everyone (finally!) agrees upon what it
Good Practice,by Timothy Ambrose means to run a museum successfully;
(Edinburgh,Scottish Museums Council, because it discusses practice,it represents
1993). a transfer of professional knowledge.But
for whom? It makes easy reading for an
Some readers may recognize the title and experienced curator as it demonstrates no
subject:a book by the same author entitled ambiguities and admits of no
New Museums-A Start Up Guide was speculations;indeed,it suggestsby
published in 1987.It enjoyed much implication that no such things exist in a
success and,as it should,inspired this clear vision of what constitutesgood
new version which is not so much practice.If only this were true!The need
concerned with startingup new museums or possibility to go further remains,
as with managing existing ones -
however,an open though not obvious -
successfully.(It may also be recalled that question.Most curatorsw ill surely like it
another recent book by the same author, this way as it suggests that the profession
together with C.Paine,appeared under can be learned by reading the book.
the title Mtlseuna Basia,it was a broader
and more detailed work done for ICOM.) The author provides lavish yet pointed
informationat the methodological and
As for the book in question,the title itself taxonomiclevels,at least with regard to
is intriguing:‘management’is the saviour the basics which many museum
term against an uncertain future;‘new’ is professionalsmay not know or all too often
always a good way to begin,as w e can forget.Thus,many readers w i
ll profit from
rarely resist the charm of novelty;and, the good advice and the remindersin the
finally,‘guide’is quite comforting since form of checldists.If many curators and
w e all tend to feel lost and there is museum directorsknew the checklist and
nothing more soothing than the promised the few words of counsel concerning,for
destination of ‘goodpractice’. example,the architect’sbrief,much
money and frustration would be saved.
What does the book offer?Six chapters, To accuse the book of not
in some 140 pages,covering such containinginspiringexamples or new ideas
complex themes as first steps (where would be incorrect,as its purpose is to
basic information about the museum as teach the basics in a brief and succinctway.
an institution,whom to contact and how It thus records the state-of-the-art position,
to plan the changes,is explained); appropriatingsomenoveltiesbutrespecting
managing the collections (where the the rules,one of which is expressed
phases from acquisition to research and emphaticallyon several occasions:‘A
care are briefly considered); the museum museum without collectionsis no museum
and its users (where everything that falls at all.’Whilst this might be acceptable to a
into this broad category,from defining certainextent,it is followed by a more
the user to exhibitions and catering,is debatable position:‘Collectionsafter all
concisely exposed); managing the are the main reason for a museum being
museum (a broad and technical theme in existence.’Personally,I would rather
treated in its basic sense). The two brief be told that collections are a means to an
remaining chapters are concernedwith end and not an end in themselves.When
further reading (British bibliography further on w e find a chapter page bearing
exclusively) and other sources of a quotation from the text that states,
information (again,aimed at British ‘museums are for people,and the most
users). There is also an index. successful museums are those which put
their users first’,I begin to suspect (based
The book rests upon the assumption that on m y own experience) that museum
O UNESCO 1995 # 61
Books
curatorsare not that different from
politicians.The latter,it must be said,
unlike us,never admit that they are only
after power and money.
Some issues are still not clear to me.For
example,the distinction between
‘marketing’ (which,according to the
author,is ‘matchingresources to the
wants and needs of people’), ‘promotion’
(which should be ‘securinginterest in
your museum’),publicity (which is
associated with ‘promotion’),and ‘public
relations’(which should be ‘managing
relationships of museum-patronsand
museum-usersso that they correspond‘):
although it is nice to find this all briefly
explained in one place,the first category
tells me much the same as the last (albeit
the last one seems clearer).
If you are looking for some words on,say, circumstances,grasping its working
‘ethics’,in this book,do not be too
disappointed:firstly,it is a brief manual and,
secondly,it does not open the question
furtherthanthenotionof‘codesofconduct’. professionals and w
An advanced reader might appreciatea
single sentence that would say that the
entire mission of museums stems from the that fact.Clearly written and simple in
constant redefinitionof our vocational
commitment,i.e.ethical concern.
This being said,I must point out that the
book is beautifully designed and well
organized.One practical feature which
many readers should appreciate is that
some excerpts and quotations are set i n very reticence may be slowing down the
the margins,thus providing instant
reminders of the prevailing theme or
conclusions.The book also includes
useful cross-referencesso that the themes
can always be related.I very much
appreciated those pithy remarks scattered
unpretentiously throughout the text as if
they had been accepted truths for some
time but that neverthelessshould provide
serious food for thought for any decent
museologist,such as,for example,the
mention of the ‘publicinvolvement and
participation in the research and
collecting process’or the statement that
‘allmuseums in the UK work within a
multicultural society,and must provide for known museum specialist and teaches at
multiculturalismin their public services’.
62
O n the other hand,I am less convinced
by the claim that ‘successin managing a
museum w ill depend upon how
effectively you can defeat ... the
competition’by providing a better
product.Whilst true in general terms,it
leaves too much room for
misunderstanding;taken literally,it
might destroy some of the values that
Ambrose himself advocates.
In sum,the book,by being at the same
time brief and all-embracing,remains
dangerously simplified:‘Forward
planning is a relatively simple and
straightforward task.’It is not and the
author knows this better than most since
he offers the elements for what is,in the
final analysis,the complex task of
understanding the museum,knowing its
clients,being aware of its unique
processes and providing a vision.
The book is intended primarily for British
i l
l have the greatest
impact on them;othersw i
ll certainly profit
from the material but w ill remain aware of
approach,it w il
l undoubtedly enjoy much
recognition,but this strength also implies ,
a certain weakness:the term ‘museology’
is never mentioned,illustrating perhaps
the profound truth that museum work
may still be merely an ‘occupation’rather
than a ‘profession’ in its own right.This
ripening of our business,leaving us
unprepared for the public arena.Methods
and norms are essentialbut they do not
necessarily represent the truth;if this is
not clearly stated,one might proclaim that
poetry is anything that rhymes!A
successful museum is always more than
the sum of its (managerial) parts.I am
convinced that the author of this useful
book would agree.
Book review by Toinislnv Sola.A member
of Museum International’sEditorial
Adviso y Board, the author is a well-
the Uniz~ersityof Zagreb.
O UNESCO 1995

Professional news
Getty Grant Program
Individuals and institutions in 51
countries received 189 grants totalling
approximately $7.5million from the
Getty Grant Program during 1992/93.
Representing the largest number of
grants made in a single year since the
programme’sinception,the awards
ranged from $10,000to $250,000and
covered a broad range of projects
involving art history scholarship,
advancement of the understanding of
art,and the conservation of art and
architecture.Some $200,700were
granted to France,including
approximately $80,000for the
conservationtreatment of the altarpiece
773eMarty-dom o f St Stepbeii by Peter
Paul Rubens in the Musée des Beaux
Arts in Valenciennes as well as other
works in the collection,and some
$35,000for the conservation of paintings
by Russian artists Natalia Goncharova
and Mikhail Larionov in the Musée
National d’ArtModerne in Paris.
For further information(including
brochures,applications and guidelines):
The Getty Grant Program,
401 Wilshire Boulevard,Suite 1000,
Santa Monica,CA 90401 (USA)
Tel:(1.310) 393-4244
Fax:(1.310) 395-8642
Australia acquires contemporary
Asian art collection
The Queensland Art Gallery in South
Brisbane (Australia) has purchased
eighteen works which w il
l form the
basis of the only major collectionof
contemporary Asian art in Australia,and
one of very few in the world.The
Kenneth and Ymuko Myer Collection of
Contempolmy Asian Art was made
possible by one of the largest private
donations in the gallery’shistory and,in
the words of gallery director Doug Hall,
‘willform the focal point of a developing
O UNESCO 1995
Professional news
collection of contemporary art from
throughout the Asia-Pacificregion,an
area which has been sadly neglected by
art museums throughout Europe,
America and Australia’.
For further information:
Queensland Art Gallery,
P.O.Box 3686,
South Brisbane,
Queensland 4101 (Australia)
Fax:(61) 07-844-8865
N e w publications
Keyguide to hzfomnation Soul-cesin
Museum Studies. 2nd edition.By Peter
Woodhead and Geoffrey Stansfield.
Published by Mansell,Cassel1 PLC,
Stanley House,3 Fleets Lane,Poole,
Dorset,BH15 3AJ (United Kingdom),
1994,256 pp.(ISBN 0-7201-2151-5).
This completely revised and updated
edition of the successful 1990 Kejguide
provides an integrated guide to the
documentation,reference aids and main
organizational sources of informationon
museums and museum studies
worldwide.Part I is a critical overview
of museum studies,its literature and
other information sources;Part II is an
annotated bibliography;Part III is an
international directory of
organizations.
77kMuseuin Directory 199495.
Published by the Museum Development
Company Ltd,Studio Five,Mill Lane,
Woolstone,Milton Keynes MK15 OAJ
(United Kingdom), 1994,400 pp.(ISBN
1-873114-14-1).
A comprehensive guide to sources of
information,advice,best practice and
heritage organizations in the United
Kingdom,the Museum Directoy lists
some 4,000specialist suppliers of
products and services as well as
* 63
Professional news
hundreds of support organizations.
Practical case-studiescover a broad
range of museum and heritage concerns
including market research,retailing,
security,environmental control,
charitable trusts,lighting techniques,
storage systems,mail-ordercatalogues,
sponsorship,developing Friends
organizations and sources of European
funding.
Training in Consemation. Published
by the Conservation Unit of the
Museums and Galleries Commission
and the UK Institute for Conservation
with support from Historic Scotland:
Scottish Conservation Bureau,1993,48
pp. (ISBN 0-948630-08-6). Distributed
by the Conservation Unit, 16 Queen
Anne’sGate,London SWlH 9AA.
This new guide illustrates the growth in
courses in response to demand in the
United Kingdom and overseas.The
broad range of specialities covered
includes upholstery,plastics,stained
glass,art on paper,photographic,library
and archive materials, antique clock and
furniturerestoration,and archaeological
conservation.A companion booklet,
Working in,Conser-uatioii, illustrates the
day-to-daywork of seven conservators
ranging from the ongoing conservation
of suits of armour at Durham Castle to
restoring the mirrors at Hampton Court
Palace after a fire.
Les Sources de l’histoirede l’arten
France: répertoire des bibliothèques,
centres de documentation et ressources
documentaires en art, architectlire et
archéologie [Sourcesof Art History in
France:Directory of Libraries,
Documentation Centres and Resources
in Art,Architecture and Archaeology].
By Marie-Claude Thompson,assisted
by Catherine Schmitt and Nicole Picot.
Published by the Association des
Bibliothècaires Français,1994,300 pp
(ISBN 2-900177-08-1). Distributed by
La Documentation Française,29, quai
Voltaire,75344 Paris Cedex 07
(France).
64
The first national survey of its kind in
France,this publication lists some 600
sources of specialized information
available in a broad variety of
institutions.Five indexes facilitate
research by city, département,institution, Questions concerning editorial matters:
type of library,and key-words.
Coizsei-LiLztionand filanagernent of
Archaeological Sites.Quarterly journal
published by JamesPr James Science
Publishers,5 Castle Road,London N W l
8PR (United Kingdom).
This new internationaljournal is devoted
to the publication of original research
and review papers on any aspect of the
preservation and presentation of
archaeological sites worldwide.Topics
covered include historical documentation
and condition reporting,analysis of
deterioration and environmental
monitoring,protective sheltering and
roofing of ruins,analysis and treatment
of building materials,structures and
decorative surfaces,site and visitor
management,national and international
legislation,as well as the cultural,social,
ethical and theoretical issues associated
with the conservationand interpretation
of archaeological sites.
Consemation of Documents in Libraries,
Archiues a n d fiIiisetcins,by R.S. Singh.
Published by Aditya Prakashan,New
Delhi,1993,159 pp. (ISBN 81-85689-39-
3). Available at specialized booksellers
,ordirectly from the publisher:F-14/65,
Model Town II, Delhi 110 009 (India).
The conservation of documents,and their
preservationfor posterity,is ‘aninteresting
amalgamation of both science and art’,
requiring a total understanding of the
problem and use of scientific techniques
as well as an appreciation of aesthetics,
historicity,authenticity and value.The
author explores the physio-chemical
qualities of paper,factors of deterioration
and methods of conservation so as to
narrow the gap between curatorsand
scientists and to call attention to the
interdisciplinaryapproach needed to
develop better conservation practices.
. 7
internntzonal
Correspondence
The Editor,Miseunt Intet-?intionnl,
UNESCO,7 place de Fontenoy,
75352 Paris 07 SP (France!.
Tel:(33.1)45.68.43.39
Fax:(33.1)42.73.04.01
Miseuin Intenzntioizal(English edition! is published four
times a year in January.March,June and September by
Blackwell Publishers,108 Cowley Road,Oxford,OX4 1JP
(U10and 238 Main Street,Cambridge,M A 02142 (USA).
New ordersand samplecopy requestsshould he addressed
to the Journals Mÿrketing Manager at the Publisher’s
address above. Renewals, claims and all other
correspondence relating to subscriptions should be
addressedtotheJournaisSubscriptionsDepartmenl,Marston
Book Services, P.O.Box 87, Oxford, OX2 ODT (UIO.
Cheques should be made payable to Basil Blackwell Ltd.
Subscription rates for 1995
EUR ROW NA
Institutions 650.00 650.00 $79.50
Individuals 626.50 626.50 $39.50
Institutionsin the
developing world $38
Individualsin the
developing world $23.00
Single issues:
Institutions iL15.00 615.00 $24.00
Individuals 68.00 B.00 $12.00
Back issues: Queries relating to back issues should be
addressed to the Customer Service Department,Marston
Book Services.P.O.Box 87,Oxford,OX2 ODT (UK).
Microform:Thejournal is availableon microfilm (I6 mm or
35 mm)or 105 mm microfiche from the SerialsAcquisitions
Department,University Microfilms Inc.,300 North Zeeb
Road,Ann Arbor,MI 48106 (USA).
US mailing: Second-class postage paid at Rahway,New
Jersey.Postmaster: send address corrections to Mziseuna
Iiztenzntiotznl,c/o Mercury AirfreightInternationalLtd Inc.,
2313 E-F Randolph Avenue,Avenel,NJ 07001 (USA) (US
mailing agent).
Advertising: For details contact Pamela Courtney,
Albert House,Monnington on Wye, Hereford, HR4 7NL
(UK). Tel:(09817) 344.
Copyright:All rights reserved.Apart from fair dealing for
the purposes of research or private study,or criticism or
review, as permitted under the Copyright,Designs and
Patents Act 1988,this publication may not he reproduced.
stored or tnnsmitted in any form or by any means without
the prior permission in writing of the Publisher.or in the
case of reprographicreproduction in accordancewith the
terms oflicencesissuedby the CopyrightLicensing Agency
or the Copyright Clearance Centre.
Copies of articlesthat have appeared in this journal can be
obtained from the Institutefor Scientific Information,(Att.
ofI’ublicationProcessing), 3501 Market Street,Philadelphia,
PA 19104 (USA).
Printedand bound in GrratBritainby Headley BrothersLtd,
Kent. Printed on acid-freepaper.
O UNESCO 1995
GLASBAU HAHN
HAHN Allglas
Display Cases
Art objects in your
protection for the world
tomorrow.
Let us help solve your display problems.
W e aim to realize the ideas of architects
and designerswhile at the same time
considering the conservation and
handling requirementsof the museums.
It is our mutual responsibility to safeguard
and preserve the treasures from the past
for future generations.

Hanauer LandstraBe 211

D-60314Frankfurt am Main
Telefon (O 69)944 17-0
Telex 4 16848 hahn d
Fax (O69)4 99O1 51
ritish M u s e u m , London

MEWAERT GLASS ENGINEERING

Meyvaert Museum, adivision of Meyvaert Glass

Engineering, is one of the largest manufactur-
ers of glass display cases for m u s e u m s and is
today the leading specialist in m u s e u m con-
sultancy a n d m u s e u m equipment. With our
technical study and design department w e are
able to satisfy the most specialized demands of
presentation, conservation and protection of
various objects and works of art:

\^.fibre optic lighting

<,climatic control systems
%^.new hanging systems for frames
<>signalization For information please contact:
/>alarm systems MEYVAERT Glass Engineering
Dok Noord 3
9000 Gent, Belgium
Tel. + 32 (0)9/225.54.27
Fax. t 32 (0)9/224.36.1 1

S o m e of our references:
Royal M u s e u m s ofArt and History [Brussels], Beit Al Qur'an M u s e u m [Bahrain], Musée du Louvre [Paris], L' Historial de la Grande Guerre
[Péronne], Victoria and Albert M u s e u m [London], Imperial W a r M u s e u m [London], National M u s e u m [Singapore], M u s e u m of Art
[Taiwan], Kremlin M u s e u m [Moscow], Tretjakov Gallery [Moscow], etc
 MINERVA
The InternationalReview of Ancient Art and Archaeology

MINERVA is the illustrated news and review magazine devoted to ancient art,
antiquities and archaeology discoveries worldwide,from prehistoric times
to the eighteenth century.
- I
Feature articles emphasise newly discovered works of art and objects of
archaeologicalimportance leading to a better understanding \
of the past.
-
Regular sections in MINERVA include excavation reports;museum
exhibitions;underwater archaeology;book reviews;calendar of
national and internationalexhibitions and meetings;conservation;
museums of the world;auction reports and notices.

ISMEL'S MARITIME
HERITAGE
NEW ANTIQUITES
MUSEUM IN LEIPZIG
MONS PORPHYRITES:
THE SOURCE OP
IblI'ERiAL PORPHYRY
TOWARDSA
DEFINITION OP STYLE:
THB ARTS OP TIBET
THE SUivIMER
ANTIQUITIES SALES

M W R V A (MI)14 Old Bond Street,London W1X 4JL England

Tel:(044)0171 495 2590 Fax: (044)0171 491 1595
Subscription &18 UK,&20 elsewhere
6 issues a year
 VISUAL ARTS PUBLISHING
presents, in the series of
CATALOGUES of PAINTINGS
in BRITISH COLLECTIONS:
Volume 3
ENGLISH HERITAGE
(Audley End, Brodsworth Hall,
Chiswick House, the Iveagh Bequest,
Kenwood, Marble Hill House, Ranger's House, etc.)
GEFFRYE MUSEUM
GUILDHALL ART GALLERY
ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE
THOMAS CORAM FOUNDATION

Also available:
TATE GALLERY OLD MASTERS
BUDAPEST MUSEUM of FINE ARTS,Vol.1

82 Sinclair Road, London W14 ONJ,England

TelephoneFax: (O) 71 603 7945

Wingate &
Johnston Ltd
FINE ART PACKING &SHIPPING
INTERNATIONALAND LOCAL
OFFICES IN
EDINBURGH
TEL:0171 732 8123 TEL:0141 248 4666 TEL:0131 228 5995
FAX:O1 506 439994

1/77" IA und Denkmalpflege,Elektrornobile,
IA in England,Kraftwerk Turgi
2/77" Wasserrader,Sterlingrnotoren,
Seiltransrnissionen,Klopfsage
3/77" Methylanlage,Krafhverk Brugg,
Martini Gasrnotor
4/77*Waadtlander Salinen,Sage im
Schwarzwald,Nahrnaschinen
1/78"Elektrizitatswerk Kappelerhof,
Drechslerei Kleintal,engl. Münzwaagen
2/78' Museum Beamish,Sage Selkingen,IA
in Ungarn (Blaudruckerei)
3/78" IA in Schweden,Le Doubs (Mühlenund
Sagen)
4/78" Elektrizitatswerk Schaffhausen,Natron-
Lokomotiven,Eisenschmelzereien Ferraras,
die Soleleitung
1/79. Gusseisenarbeiten.Schnaus-Pflüge,
Lottechnik,elektr.Küstentrarn
2/79" Krafhverk Hongg,Sage,Tram in
Aachen,Goldbergwerk Gondo (1. Teil)
3/79" lndustriearchitektur.Newcornen-
Dampfrnaschine,Talsperrenbauin Vor-
derindien,Goldbergwerk Gondo (2.Teil)
4/79* Owens N e w Lanark,Sage Wiggwil,
Hammerschrniede Corcelles
l/80*Wege im Fels, Elektrizitats-Zahler
2/80* lndustriearchitektur,Lavezbearbeitung
3/80*Technik in Mesopotarnien,Technische
Denkmale im Ruhrgebiet
4/80*Industriearchaologie in Polen,
Volksarchitektur in Polen
1/81*Turbinenanlage Ottenbach,Textilfabrik
Cromford in Ratingen
2/81" Genfersee-Raddampfer(1. Teil)
3/81" Genfersee-Raddarnpfer(2.Teil),
HolzkohlenhochofenVordernberg
4/81" Holzwasserrader-Typen,
Dampfrnaschinefür den Unterricht
1/82 Montanhist.Lehrpfad (osterr.),Gaswerk
Schlieren,SchokoladefabrikVillars
2/82 ZürcherTrams,Barrage-voûte,
Eisenhütten Choindez,landwirtschaftliche
Produktivitat
3/82 Vom und von Starnpfen zu allen
Kultuneiten
4/82 Zürich als lndustriestadt
................................................................................
I order a subscription of the quarterly «Industriearchaologie»,sfr.59.-
p. a. or any 4 single back issues (pleasetick), incl. postage and packing
[ ] Please charge my VISA card (card number, expiry date)
[ ] Please send me an invoice
Name
Street
County
Postcode
Please return this form to: Industriearchaologie,Oskar Baldinger,Aarestr. 33,
CH-5222 Umiken, Switzerland.,Tel:t41-56-41O0 43,Fax: t41-56-4143 54
I r-
The well illustrated German
language magazine on Industrial
Archaeology since 1977.Subjects
from all over the world: history of
technology, agriculture, transport,
mining, engineering, bridges,
inventions, art and craft, examples of
preservation and conservation,tips
for travel and visits, books etc.
1/83 Wasser als gewerbe-und industrie-
standortbildender Faktor irn R a m e Olten
2/83 Pferdeeisenbahn(Linz),Drechseln,
Anfange der AEG (1. Teil)
3/83 Mühle Schinznach. Kraftwerk
Ottenbach,Anfange der AEG (2.Teil)
4/83 Papier und Druck irn alten China,
Papierrnühlen in Baar
1/84 Stockmühlen,Radwerk und Darnpf-
geblase,JU-52
2/84 Raumkomponenten und Industrie-
standort,elektr.TraktionJA-Wanderpfad,
Hafnerei Walde, Ballenberg
3/84 Knochenstarnpfein Therwil,stationare
Sulzer-Dampfrnaschinen
4/84 Paul Jaray,Aluminium-Herstellung,
SalzbergwerkWieliczka
1/85 lndustrielehrpfad ZürcherOberland
2/85" Bergwerk Ramrnelsberg (Goslar):u.a.
Wasserhaltung,Vitriol
Town
Country
Date,Signature
I
3/85 Augsburgs W e g zur lndustriestadt
4/85 Gaswerk Brugg,Kontor,Elektroautos
1/86 Lok-Remise Uster
2/86 Kunstwerke aus Blech,Forrnstahlund
Nieten: Stahlbrücken
3/86 Südtirol: Bergbau
4/86 Südtirol: Strassen und Bahnen
1/87" Bibliotheksarchaologie
2/87 Romische Wasserrader
3/87 Anfangszeitdes Dieselmotors
4/87 Erhaltung industriellerKulturgüter in
Europa
1/88 Vorarlberg-Osterreich(Energieerzeu-
gung,Elektrizitat)
2/88 Windrnühlen auf Mallorca. IA in
Osterreich
3/88 Fliesen,Kacheln und Porzellan in
England
4/88 Bulgarien:Handwerk,Wasserantriebe
1/89 100 Jahre Eiffelturrn
2/89 Mühle Brüglingen,der Welt erste
gusseiserne Brücke
3/89 Industrial Open Air Museum Blists Hill,
die Volklinger Hütte
4/89 Tourismus und industrielle Kulturgüter
1/90 Robert Maillart
2/90 Aus der Anfangszeit der Eisenbahn-
dieselrnotoren
3/90 lrnpressionen aus Polen:Von Krakau
nach Tschenstochau
4/90 Mülhausen, Ecornusée d'Alsace
1/91 Mühle Büren,Europas hochstes
Bergwerk,Glashütte,RegalschiffVasa
2/91 Reifendrehen (Spielzeug). Salzstadt
Lüneburg,Berliner Hochbahn,Südarabien
(Olrnühle,Darnrn)
3/91" Seiltransrnission,Gotthard-Saurn-
pfadbrücken,Wellbaumsanierung, Luxem-
burg,Umnutzung,Sanierung,Formen
4/91 Herstellenvon Biberschwanzziegeln,
Ziegeleimaschinen,Tobiashamrner Ohrdruf,
ffùhe integrierte Energienutzung,Machines
agricoles,IA in Bozen,Malta
1/92 Graphitbergbau,Steinkohlebergbau.
Rennfeuerversuch,Wasserwerk,Fondation de
l'Automobile Berliet
2/92 Mundstücke (Ziegelei),Seattle,
Kettenbrücke,Sayner Hütte,Sulzaer
Salzwerk,romischerStollen,Rennofen
3/92Mittelalterliche Verhüttungsstatten.
Chicago,Deichbau,lndustrielehrpfad
Emrnekanal,Collagen,Freilichtmuseum
4/92Saurnpfad,Solequellen Reichenhall,
Thiessener Hammer,Waale in Südtirol
1/93Textilmaschinen-Museenin
Grossbritannien,Deutschland und den USA,
Museurnsprojekt Neuthal/ZH
2/93 Achse,Rad und Wagen, Turbolader,
Archivieren,Dokurnentieren,Rekonstruieren,
Mühlen. Glas,Kutschen
* only availableas a photo copy