Museum Transparency

In the March 2010 edition of MUSEUM Maxwell L. Anderson presented his thoughts on Museum Transparency. His take seems to reflect his current position as the Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. His article was very interesting. Anderson's Thesis was that museums could be transparent and successful if they are true to themselves. He presented five truths in the article that I agree with:

The size of a museum's audience should not reflect the amount of public financial support it receives,
Museums are not a part of the entertainment industry,
A museum's exhibits and activities should reflect its mission not its need to pay the bills,
A non-profit museum is a red-ink business,
It is appropriate for the government to financially support culture.

I would like to elaborate on two of these points. First, is that the museum is not part of the entertainment industry. Over the years this has gotten lost. First the public changed its viewpoint of museums, then the museum leaders changed with them. When museums began they were primarily intended as places of learning. Curiosity Cabinets where collected as, admittedly, a show of wealth, but also as a way to view the amazing wonders of the world in your own back yard. Scholarly insights were made at museum, where research and study flourished. Over time much of this has transferred from the museum to universities, but museums are still places to learn. Parents bring their kids to see an exhibit about dinosaurs on a rainy day. The kids are having fun seeing real dinosaurs and that fun and play may not look like education, but that is exactly what it is. (For more information about this just look at Mary Ellen Flannery's article in the same issue of MUSEUM.)Every notice that after a little boy leaves a dinosaur exhibit he can tell you the most amazing things about dinosaurs. Things you may not have known. That is because he is having fun in the museum, and when you interested in what your seeing AND doing you remember and notice more than if your read it out of a book. Museums are educational institutions and should not be judged by attendance records like the entertainment world. You would never judge a school or library by how many people enter the door, instead you judge it by how much they take out of it. Judge the museum the same way you would judge a library.

The second point I would like to elaborate on is that the government should support culture. Anderson notes that in Western democracy "cultural offerings are indispensable to their citizenry". He says this is how it is in every Western Democracy except for the U.S. Everywhere else "they define a nation's identity and shape a national conversation about what matters most." Why is the U.S. different. Why do we put less importance on preserving and spreading the culture that got us to where we are today? In Germany it is impossible to avoid knowing and facing the country's past. They have monuments, museums and cultural institutions everywhere that discuss their past and present. What is even more impressive is that when walking down the street you can ask any local about these monuments and they will be able to give you some information. It is not like that here in the U.S. Here late night TV hosts can walk down the street and ask people questions focused on U.S. culture and history and will find many blank stares or completely wrong answers. Why is the U.S. so drastically different? How can we fix this? How can museums make the public see them for what they are, educational cultural institutions. Anderson and many others think that the first step is museum transparency.

Anderson is leading by example. At the Indianapolis Museum of Art he and his colleges are practicing what they preach. It is not perfect, but it is closer than most, and a step in the right direction. One thing that they are doing there that I think is worth noting is providing the public with a complete list of all past and current deaccessioned objects. You can find the list on their website It shows any interested party the object, date of deaccession, the recipient, and how it was removed (aka sold, auctioned, transfer to another institution, etc.). This publicity is not required by museums, but I would include it in my best practices. What is especially nice about this is you can use it to follow, and prove an item's provenance. Many objects have a clouded provenance, and museum clarity in the accessioning and deaccesioning processes would help to remove some of the clouds. A quote of Anderson'a that I particularly like is "if we acquire and sell objects for and from our collections with only secondary regard for potential claims on ownership, ethical dilemmas or sources and destinations of funds, we are exposing our institutions to great risk." This is an important idea for museums to take to heart. The movement of elicit art and artifacts is an ancient, yet still blooming segment of the black market. Museums can not support this trade if we have any chance of minimizing its effects on the entire world's cultural heritage.

The Linguist & the Emperor by Daniel Meyerson

The Linguist & the Emperor; Napoleon and Champollion's Quest to decipher the Rosetta Stone by Daniel Meyerson

History is made through chance encounters. I often find myself thinking what would the world be like today if Rosa Parks never met that bus driver, or Caesar and Cleopatra had remained strangers. Would the world be dramatically different or would have history progressed the same way? A tough question to answer, if not impossible. This is the question the drew me to read The Linguist & the Emperor Daniel Meyerson did not attempt to answer this question, but he did show how the intermingling of the lives of two men opened the secrets of a long lost civilization to the examination of scholars.



Meyerson's description of these two men's lives reads like a historical fiction rather than a traditional history. He weaves the story like a novelist, yet it is all true. The power of history happily puts itself in Meyersons sure brushstrokes.

Meyerson's intricate knowledge of the personal letters of both men is presented to the reader as Napoleon and Champollion's thoughts. The reader sees the progress of the two men through their own eyes.

Napoleon's career is intermingled with his interactions with Josephine. Napoleon yearns for his own future prosperity while surrounding himself with the wealth of the past. He strives to live a romantic life; one with political and military success, a worldly education and a perfect love. He fails to reach his ultimate goal in each of these categories.

The most impressive part of Meyerson's work is how he presents the development of Champollion. Champollion becomes a vision in the reader's mind. A shy, almost neglected child grows into an uncertain nerd whose obsession leads to a seemingly impossible linguistic achievement. The reader becomes connected to Champollion, willing him to succeed. Of course he does succeed, we know he will, we just don't see how. That is the magic of Meyerson.



The book is a true page turner. Well written and well supported, this book is a great read for anyone looking to learn about French history and the significance of the Rosetta Stone.

Super Bowl XLIV

Now, many of us have bets on the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is a part of our American identity. So as American tune in on Super Bowl Sunday they will have bets on the line. Most of these bets involve the exchange money or maybe a case of beer, but the New Orleans and Indianapolis art museums have taken it to an entirely different level. They are betting their collections' masterpieces.

Where has our society gone to that those who are entrusted to protect our cultural property are betting that property on a sporting event. Now this particular bet isn't really a bad thing. The artwork involved will be sent to the winning city for three months and then returned to the loser. While this is a great way to grab the public's attention, I do not see how this fits into either museum's mission statement.

The pieces being put up by the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) include "The Fifth Plague of Egypt," painted in 1800 by legendary English artist William Turner.


While the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) include Claude Lorrain's treasured 1644 painting "Ideal View of Tivoli".


Anderson, NOMA's Director, stated that his confidence in the Colts and Peyton Manning when he said

Obviously we wouldn't presume to place one of our greatest masterpieces on the road for three months, unless we were sure we wouldn't have to.

No pressure Peyton.

Eris Goddess of Strife

Strife:
1.: bitter sometimes violent conflict or dissension
2.: an act of contention : fight, struggle
3.: exertion or contention for superiority

Eris was the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Her Roman counterpart was the goddess Discordia. Her parents are thought to be Zeus and Hera, making her the sister of Ares, but a conflicting myth states that she is the daughter of Erebos, the primeval god of darkness, and Nyx, the night. She was also the mother of the Kakodaimones, the plagues of humanity released by Pandora.

"But abhorred Eris (Strife) bare painful Ponos (Toil), and Lethe (Forgetfulness), and Limos (Starvation), and the Algea (Pains), full of weeping, the Hysminai (Fightings) and the Makhai (Battles), the Phonoi (Murders) and the Androktasiai (Man-slaughters), the Neikea (Quarrels), the Pseudo-Logoi (Lies), the Amphilogiai (Disputes), and Dysnomia (Lawlessness) and Ate (Ruin), who share one another's natures, and Horkos (Oath) who does more damage than any other to earthly men, when anyone, of his knowledge, swears to a false oath."

Hesiod

A vicious and unyielding goddess, Eris was feared by all men. Her standing amongst the gods was shaky as well, most tried to keep their distance. All of the gods and goddesses were invited to the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, except for Eris. When she attempted to attend the wedding anyways she was kicked out. In her need for revenge she quietly tossed a golden apple into the foray. It was inscribed "To the Fairest." Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all believed that the apple Jove to name a mortal to judge who should receive the apple. That mortal was Paris, Prince of Troy. He chose Aphordite in exchange for the love of Helen. Thus began the Trojan War.

Eris (Hate) whose wrath is relentless, she is the sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the earth with her head striking heaven.

Homer

This is how Eris took her revenge and grew in power as both men and gods fought a battle inspired by a little golden apple.

The Bible

"We must not read our own meaning into scripture, but must make the sentence of scripture ours."

Hugh of St. Victor

The following is based on information found in Karen Armstrong's book "The Bible". The book is very well written and is highly informative. I have read about religion and the Bible many times and I feel this book would be good for anyone interested in how the Bible became THE Bible.

The Israelites began as a tribal nation. These tribes kept their legends and histories alive through an active oral tradition. Most tribes would focus on local events and heroes, which tended to be part of or similar to the broader Israelite history. In 1000BCE the tribes united into two monarchies: Judah and Israel.

Durring the 18th century BCE the area underwent a literary revolution. In Greece Homer's poetry was recorded and in Israel and Judah the oral traditions were recorded. These records morphed the old tribes' tradions into national sagas. These sagas were subject to the needs of the time, and adapted throughout history to fit the contemporary situation. The sagas were constantly changing until the time of Ezra, who used these teachings as the foundation for his work, legitimizing and formalizing them into the Torah.

In the Third century BCE Jewis scriptures began to be translated into Greek. Myth surrounds the first translation of the Torah. Ptolemy Philadelphus, Greek King of Egypt, wanted a Greek copy of the scriptures and gathered seventy priests to write a translation. It was agreed that the translation was perfect and named the Septuagint. Another variation of the myth had the seventy priest write seperate translations, but when they brought them together they found that the had all written the same translation, word for word. It was the allegorical treatment of this translation by Greek readers that produced the idea that scripture could have more than its literal meaning. Scripture had a deeper meaning.Paul developed this further, saying the scriptures were there to teach something. His letters, later includded in the Bible, were mean to bring these lessons to light.

The Bible was not canonized until the fourth century. It includded the gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the Acts of the Apostles, Epistles by Paul, James, Peter, John and Jude, Hebrews and Revelation. Jerome, a fluent western exegetes translated the Bible into Latin. This became known as the Vulgate. The Vulgate was the standard European text until the sixteenth century. the Vulgate was copied and re-copied by monks until their copying errors became compounded and texts they wrote varied from the original.

Mineral Exhibits

Recently I visited the Houston Natural History museum and was able to peruse their natural mineral exhibit. Impressive is a dramatic understatement. It is not surprising that a natural history museum situated at the center of the American oil industry would have an impressive collection, both in size of the pieces and their quantity. The museum has rooms upon rooms of uncut stones. I still am unsure if I walked through all of the rooms, as many of them are hidden around corners. I can not begin to imagine what natural wonders sit protected in museum storage.

The exhibit, while mesmerizing was less than fascinating. The exhibit listed what each object was, but gave little or no information about how the mineral was formed. The exhibit was designed to showcase the collection rather than educate the visitor. The floors were covered with red carpeting. The lights were turned down, as jazz music played through unseen speakers. The ambiance reflected that of a jewelry store, not a museum.

On the other side of the spectrum is the Natural History Museum in New York city. This exhibit is clearly designed to educate the visitor. The mineral collection is less impressive than the one in Houston, but what they have has been put to good use. The exhibit is designed to educate, but the last time I was able to see the exhibit some of the educational tools where out of service. The exhibit seems to really on the fact that the visitor will already have a basic knowledge of minerals, or that they will be with someone who does.

Pergamon Altar

The largest altar known to man, the Pergamon Altar sits majestically on Museuminsel in Berlin, Germany. The altar was dedicated to Zeus by the ancient Greek city of Pergamon (modern day Bergama in Turkey) in the 2nd century BCE. It was shipped to Germany between 1879 and 1904 by Carl Humann. The Pergamon Museum was built between 1910 and 1930 to hold the Altar as well as other works from antiquity, especially Middle East and Islamic art.



The altar was originally used for religious and civic purposes. The 40 foot high structure is imposing by today’s standards and would have impressed the feeling of power over any ancient visitor. Its grandeur led to its recognition in Revelation 2:12-13 as “Satan’s Throne.”

When visiting the altar it is easy to forget that the entire structure is an altar, and not a temple with a small altar inside. Visitors climb up a tall flight of stairs to find themselves standing upon the sacrificial altar, i.e. the floor which is an intricate mosaic.



The experience is one of wonder. How did these ancient civilizations create such masterpieces? How is it that Germany was able to move this great structure from Turkey to Germany in 1879?