How Curators Decide What’s not on Display by John Pancake
The Washington Post dedicated an entire section to museums
this past weekend as it should. The D.C.
area is home to a plethora of museums dedicated to many different
interests. And here is the best part
about these museums, many have no admission fees. I will say that again many have no admission
fees. So if you are planning to come to
D.C., plan on spending a whole day museum hopping. You will not be disappointed.
My favorite museums of all times are The National Museum of
American History and the National Gallery of Art. The National Museum of American History has 3
million artifacts in its collection. It is interesting to note that the Ruby
Red slippers worn by Dorothy or Judy Garland to be more accurate in the Wizard
of Oz will be departing from the Museum
to be displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London starting October 9,
2012. But do not despair, they will
return on November 21, 2012 in time for holiday visitors. I have seen these slippers up close and
personal and can’t help but remember the scene when the wicked witch makes her
entrance trying to get those precious slippers off of Dorothy’s feet. Fat chance lady!
According to the article the city’s curators have roughly 140
million things to choose from. What is more
interesting is not what they display but what they choose not to display or
what to remove from display. So only about 1% of all items are displayed. The
rest are packed away to preserve them for future viewings. At the Corcoran the rule of thumb is a
photograph on display for six months must go back in storage for six
years. That is a long time not to display
something.
If you would like to check out the article for yourself, here
is the link.
Benjamin Franklin’s waist coat use to be a deep plum but is now
a brown. It is 230 years old and is
being rotated off of display.
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