Wednesday 7th October
Russell Cotes Museum, Bournemouth. 'Sorry you can't take photos here'. Er...why not? Copyright, light damage from the flash etc. Has intermittent light damage from flash photography been proven in a scientific study I wonder? Many museums cite this as an excuse, but where is the evidence? I thought that in these access, inclusion, 'get those collections on line' times that we would be seeking to celebrate the fact that someone wants to photograph and share our wonderful objects. If I still ran a museum i'd want to be 'down with the kids' (to quote Billy Black in Twilight) and all of those who embrace this fantastic digital world so that they can spread the fame of my collections worldwide. Or am I wrong?
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Tuesday 6th October 2009, Guards Museum, Birdcage Walk, London. Great museum, hugely enhanced by brilliant staff. A Curator who cooks? I like it. Front of house staff who tailor? I like it more and more. Here we have complete social history. It's the reason why I love military museums. The personalia. Individuals remembered in a multitude of ways. The medals, uniforms, photos, diaries, personal letters, souvenirs, skills and crafts, portraits and stories, all capable of being woven into, and sometimes conflicting the evidence of official reports and literature. It's the passion too. It's palpable in the displays and amongst the staff. The honour of serving sovereign and country, the male-bonding and the army families who complete the story. There's ethnography too, for example 19th century Afghan material and the superb craftsmanship of military chattels. All curated on a shoe string with minimal staff and volunteers. These are true community museums. Places where communities of those who risk all can remember and celebrate all that they value and believe in. In such museums we can understand history from a very personal perspective in a way that many other disciplines can only envy. Or am I wrong?
Bovington Tank Museum - 5th October 2009.
Museum weather and what can I hear? The sound of tanks? Warfare? Guns? No, lots of English spoken with a strong accent. There are French and Flemish speaking Belgian veterans here enjoying tanks and nostalgia. Hmm, a signature building and a terracotta-coloured access ramp that dominates the view. Strange low level concertina style display panels at the entrance that are already showing signs of wear and are frustrating to read. The building dominates the display. I had hoped to see an exhibition hall akin to the fantastic National War Memorial Museum in Australia. But it appears that the bulk of the HLF money has been spent on the building and not the exhibition which is traditional with very little technology. There are highlights, the fabulous photos, the well written, edited and narrated AV, the uniform cases which are really well designed containing a capsule collection with just the right amount of interpretation. I liked the engine sound track in the tank. There are some oddities though. Why display both a picture of the Cambrai flag (labelled) and the flag itself (un-labelled) as a back drop to a show case? Why not borrow the real painting 'My Son John' ? The colour copy is simply not good enough.There is no atmosphere or excitement here. A lighting designer could have made a huge difference, adding some much needed drama to the fascinating story of the tank. The 'Little Willie' turntable is great but why not mechanise the model of the Da Vinci tank which is seen right at the beginning? Seems an obvious idea to me.The interpretation is not good enough to compliment the magical intensity of the objects, potent symbols of war and peace and it's the small well lit cases that stand out.
Museum weather and what can I hear? The sound of tanks? Warfare? Guns? No, lots of English spoken with a strong accent. There are French and Flemish speaking Belgian veterans here enjoying tanks and nostalgia. Hmm, a signature building and a terracotta-coloured access ramp that dominates the view. Strange low level concertina style display panels at the entrance that are already showing signs of wear and are frustrating to read. The building dominates the display. I had hoped to see an exhibition hall akin to the fantastic National War Memorial Museum in Australia. But it appears that the bulk of the HLF money has been spent on the building and not the exhibition which is traditional with very little technology. There are highlights, the fabulous photos, the well written, edited and narrated AV, the uniform cases which are really well designed containing a capsule collection with just the right amount of interpretation. I liked the engine sound track in the tank. There are some oddities though. Why display both a picture of the Cambrai flag (labelled) and the flag itself (un-labelled) as a back drop to a show case? Why not borrow the real painting 'My Son John' ? The colour copy is simply not good enough.There is no atmosphere or excitement here. A lighting designer could have made a huge difference, adding some much needed drama to the fascinating story of the tank. The 'Little Willie' turntable is great but why not mechanise the model of the Da Vinci tank which is seen right at the beginning? Seems an obvious idea to me.The interpretation is not good enough to compliment the magical intensity of the objects, potent symbols of war and peace and it's the small well lit cases that stand out.
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