Museum Archipelago

The American Association of Museums has this to say about human remains in its code of ethics: “The unique and special nature of human remains and funerary and sacred objects is recognized as the basis of all decisions concerning such collections collections-related activities promote the public good rather than individual financial gain.” When AAM uses the word “special,” it means that every instance of a dead body is special, not a special body from a special person. What is different about displaying the everyman? In the second half of this two part series about dead bodies, we look at how cultures view their own dead from museums to mausoleums. We explore the Body Worlds exhibits, which bring visitors face-to-face with dozens of dead bodies, all identifying markers removed. We also discuss a landfill in Staten Island, where much of the sorting of museum artifacts and human remains from rubble took place after the September 11 attacks.

When Robert Peary brought six Inuits from Greenland back from his Arctic expedition, they landed in the care of the American Museum of Natural History. Among these people were an eight year old boy named Minik and his father Qisuk. After Qisuk became ill and died, the museum staged a fake burial and put his remains in the museum as artifacts. This part one of a two-part series on dead bodies in museums.

The Dallas Museum of Art has determined that visitors fall into one of four clusters, based on their preferred learning styles. While she was director of the museum, Bonnie Pitman applied the results of the survey to make the museum more engaging to all types of visitors. In this episode, we take a look at the four clusters, analyze the study, and talk to Bonnie Pitman.

9. The Museum Selfie

This week, we visit two museum works by architect Santiago Calatrava: the Prince Philip Museum of Science in Valencia, Spain and the Milwaukee Art Museum in Milwaukee, USA. Both museums look nothing like the museum icon on maps and in mapping programs. Do these facades have anything to say about about what the museum icon might look like in 50 years? Do these buildings even make good museums?

This week, special guest Carole Sanderson of the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives describes the process and challenges of documenting the entertainment industry.

Until Muzeiko opens in Sofia, Bulgaria later this week, there were no children’s museums in the Balkans. Vessels Gercheva, the Programs and Exhibits Director for Muzeiko says that one of the reasons for the lack of children’s museums is a cultural attitude towards childhood education during communist times. In this episode, Museum of Museums visits Muzeiko to find a shifting cultural attitude.

Go to the central square of any Soviet influenced country like Lithuania, and you will find empty pedestals. The pedestals used hold monuments to Soviet leaders. Where there once were statues of Lenin and Stalin, you now find overgrown bushes and pop-up cell phone stores. Where are the statues now? In Lithuania, they are in a pseudo-theme park called Grūtas Park or, unofficially, Stalin World.

4. Bison Hunt on Horseback

As you empty your pockets, how you lay their contents on the table reflects how you value their differences and interpret their functions.  When we go into a museum, we trust that objects are laid out across the table with some expertise. Who gets to decide where the objects go? Should visitors ever have that authority?

2. Labels

The lobby is where you transform from an ordinary person into a museum visitior.