Are museums about stories or objects?

June 9th, 2009

So asks Museum-ID… Here is a quick response to this question.

The appeal of museums for me is not so much that they hold objects collected and conserved over time, but rather that these objects point to external ideas, subjects or concepts. The objects prompt these subjects to be structured and studied - through curating and exhibiting - and then support the exploration of the subject with tangible evidence. The fact of the existence of the object in the case is almost always secondary to what it represents, for me at least.

One of the difficulties in exhibition design lies in balancing the desire for rich, detailed information (such as you might get in a study book) on the one hand and the need to offer an entertaining and open experience that will appeal to a wide range of audiences on the other. Add to this the practical and conceptual limitations of exhibiting objects from a museum’s store and the final space often lacks a full and satisfying coherence.

I have been musing for a while about the possibility of a Museum of Grand Ideas, or something similar, which would pick a theme every year or two, research it, build a narrative and an educational structure and ‘write’ the exhibition in an arresting and entertaining way. Then, loan applications willing, objects could be hand picked to bring these exhibitions to life. If the ‘Grand Idea’ were gravity, in would go Newton’s and Einstein’s notebooks, a Copernican orrery and so on. If the ‘Grand Idea’ were ‘The Nation State’ objects and media could show how notions of boundaries, territory and national identity have changed through history - a history lesson with great objects basically, but where the objects are tailored to the pre-written story, not the other way around.

As a writer with an interest in education, this focus on ideas, subjects and concepts and how they are presented - in other words, how it is written - really appeals. The objects provide the magic, but the story is great to start with and that’s where you start, as Steph Mastoris at the National Waterfront Museum says.

Sadly, I suspect the Museum of Grand Ideas may not be practical and would be rather too costly without a wealthy and generous benefactor. Although the opportunities for co-branding and marketing for all the institutions which lend to any given exhibition might be quite nice.

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