Day 5— The Tenement Museum and New Inc.
Today we met with education staff from the tenement museum for a tour and Q&A afterwards. The tour was emotional, engaging, and filled with interactive elements that seemed playful and informative.
Nearly every object seemed to have a story. For this exhibition in particular, several families participated in the storytelling through statements, recollections, the contribution of objects, photographs, letters, and direct participation.
I wondered about the fact that two out of the three stories left the fathers out. One father was divorced and estranged from the family, another was represented in photographs, but another was simply left out of any family photos. The only mention of the father was that he worked long hours. As a father of two boys it made me wonder about why this person was missing. We are at a moment in society where I think we need to pay particular attention to positive male role models, and to remember that men have emotions, and feelings and may be just as interested in equality.
Who decides what gets exhibited, what families are chosen, what stories are told?
Our second meeting was held at New Inc., where we spoke to participants and leaders in the organization funded in part by the Knight Foundation. New Inc. is dedicated to art and technology. Some of the key ideas were based on the ability for technology to support and facilitate the fulfillment of a museum’s mission. Making artwork and cultural resources more widely available is an opportunity that museums need to fully embrace. Full participation in the digital realm is critical to the democratization of ideas.
While I feel most museums are behind on the technological front, it seems likely that there are several barriers that come into play. First, the old guard may be uneasy or may not have enough information about the fast-growing, perpetually updated advancements in technology. Second, technology is an investment, like people, that needs continual upkeep. The field needs access to experts who know the resource limitations of small and medium sized museums, or even large museums for that matter, so that they can find the right size investment for the right sized project. Particularly, museums should invest in technology to further fulfill their missions, not just for technology’s sake.
