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Reflections on a visit to MONA
Visiting MONA was my birthday present. An odd choice maybe, but when I clocked up another year back in February I couldn’t think of anything I wanted. But a chance to visit (arguably) Australia’s most...
View ArticleInterpretive Empathy
A recent posting by Gretchen Jennings on the Museum Commons blog has got me thinking about empathy, and the role it plays in interpretation. Gretchen was writing mostly in the context of how museums...
View ArticleMore on the Guest-Host Relationship in Museums
In a previous post, Interpretive Empathy, I started to explore the issue of treating visitors as “guests”, and what assumptions underlie such a definition. Alli Burness has posted a piece in response,...
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Parrawa, Parrawa! Go Away!
On my recent trip to Hobart I took in the recently refurbished Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Overall I was impressed, but now it’s a couple of months later I think the thing that sticks in my mind...
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Mediation or interference?
When does interpretation cross the line from mediation – providing a hook or a link between audiences and content – into interference: “over-interpretation”, where it’s simply getting in the way of a...
View Article2013: a (crowdsourced) digest
Yikes! Just a week before Christmas! Time for the obligatory “year in review” reflection pieces. What are the things that got everyone talking in 2013? Rather than rely on just my own recollections, I...
View ArticleBeyond “warm impulses”
I’ve been catching up on the Museopunks podcast series, and a section of March’s installment, the Economics of Free, particularly caught my attention. In an interview, director of the Dallas Museum of...
View ArticleMuseum Life Interview
I’m currently on my way back from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I attended the Visitor Studies Association annual conference. It’s been a very thought provoking conference and has been a chance for me...
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The language of objects
Objects may not be silent, but what difference does that make if you don’t speak their language? I’ve been doing a bit more musing on some of the anecdotes Stephanie Weaver shared during her keynote at...
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Fear of criticism
Checking Twitter over breakfast this morning, I stumbled across a discussion about when and how to criticise another museum’s curatorial practice, and the impacts of doing so on one’s career. Although...
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