The Burke Museum
The use of glass and transparency is seen throughout the new contemporary building, bridges the gap between history and technology in its presentation of cultural artifacts.
The exhibit that highlights this blend of glass and history is the Culture is Living exhibition on the entry floor. Whereas the second and third floors focus on biology and archeology, respectively, the first floor has a unique blend of interactive experiences to showcase and highlight the similarities between Native American culture and those across the world.
The space highlights many crucial choices the Burke made in designing the display of information, the context they provided, and the use of materials in that presentation.
Clarity and transparency is immediately noticed in the floating sense of the artifacts on display, with not only glass cases but also glass shelves within the cases. The text is overlayed on the glass as well as in wood panels seen throughout. It provides quotes, definitions, and context for each group of artifacts.
The items on display also span across many different cultures, even with a large indigenous focus, it highlights east asian as well as latin american cultures in the same exhibit. It spans various time periods but fits under the same themes of water, air, earth, generations and more.
The exhibit does its best to include various age groups through interactive areas that still demonstrate the topics at hand. The layout of the overall space also highlights the choice a museum goer has to experience the exhibit, not having a clearly defined math, with multiple different highlight points, it allows each visitor to have a unique experience.
As a museum curator, there are so many objects to display and learn from and not enough space to do it. The choices that one has to make to create a cohesive theme and learning experience for the guest is found not only in the what is presented but how its presented. Through the glass, we are able to see the library sized collection in the remaining parts of the museum, in a glimpse into the potential future exhibits that could be shown. And while a museum’s mission is share knowledge, it must do so in a way that is attractive to the viewer. As the composer, the Burke makes difficult decisions to highlight certain aspects and prioritizing where certain artifacts with more significance are displayed. Composing in the spacial mode comes with more room, in a three dimensional environment, but also more risk in overloading information, or being spare in its communication of said information. Overall, the Burke represents the community it serves and its composers execute its role of highlighting often forgotten parts of the history of the Puget Sound in meaningful ways.