Exhibition

Pameran Koleksi
Curator
A professional staff of museum

Organizing collections and

Exhibitions from Academic
viewpoints
• Roles of Museums

... Research
…. Education
… Collection
…. Conservation
…. Storage

It must be a regional hub of heritage studies,

or a centre of excellence in specific area
An Exhibition is Story Telling, or Presentation of
Philosophy and World View of the Institution

A museum is NOT a Showcase

NOT a Storage
Collection
Collections should GROW

.. What Items should be added?

.. Items suit general concept of the Museum

Once a museum add an item on its collection,

Museum bears heavy social responsibility
to properly conserve it.
 Conservation and Exhibition
• Once a museum add an item to its
collection,
the Museum bears
heavy social responsibility
to properly conserve it
 Conservation and Exhibition
Then, backyard storage is
the heart of a museum

Making a good museum starts from

proper building plan
 Conservation and Exhibition

In Major Foreign Museums,

Exhibited Items are about 5 per cent of
collection. (Sometime less than 1 per cent)

Curators choose items to be exhibited

under specific concept
 Exhibition Design
What lacks from most of Malaysian Museums
--- Clear Concept of Exhibition

Then… Exhibitions seems like

“Thirty One Ice Cream”
 Exhibition Design

An Exhibition is a story telling

using exhibited items

So, a curator must prepare story to tell,

like a director of TV documentary show
 Exhibition Design

The items should be carefully chosen,

and put in a meaningful sequence
 Exhibition Design

A curator may use

Items from the collection of his own museum
Items borrowed from other museums or
individuals
Replica
Multimedia(Video, CG, VR etc.)
 Exhibition Design

A curator must consider who are

the main target of the exhibition.

At the same time

An exhibition is open to the public
So, a curator should try to avoid
politically biased, hostile, and prejudiced contents
 Political aspect of exhibition

When a curator deals with topics such as

history, war, culture of minorities; he/ she
must pay special attention to avoid
the exhibition to be biased or very sensitive.
 Political aspect of exhibition

Exhibitions in National Museum(s) are

considered to be OFFICIAL Interpretation
of History and Culture of a country

A curator should carefully avoid

the exhibitions to be a political propaganda
 Political aspect of exhibition

Sometime, history/culture in a museum

is “constructed” following political intentions.
 Political aspect of exhibition

Three theories to know:

Social Darwinism/Marxist
Cultural relativism
Constructed reality