Tag: Museums
Coming Soon: The Robert Johnson Birthplace Museum?
by Eva Holland | 11.13.09 | 11:23 AM ET
Blues travelers, get ready to mark another must-see on your maps of Mississippi. The most mysterious of the famous Delta bluesmen could be getting a pilgrimage spot of his very own, as Copiah County looks to restore his birthplace and childhood home and open it to visitors. The home was identified a few years back, but there was no money for the restoration—now, with a movie about Johnson in the works, local officials see a fundraising opportunity. Here’s hoping they can get it done.
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Yahoo! BuzzInterview with Pat Croce: Pirate Soul
by M.B. Roberts | 10.29.09 | 3:56 PM ET
M.B. Roberts asks the founder of Pirate Soul Museum in Key West, Florida, about the enduring appeal of pirates
Athens: A New Look for an Old City
by Rick Steves | 10.20.09 | 11:37 AM ET
Exploring Europe, exploring travel as a political act
Manhandling Monet’s Water Lilies
by Michael Yessis | 10.08.09 | 10:03 AM ET
At the Onion’s version of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the paintings are fair game for touching. From its story about how the struggling museum now allows patrons get “up close and personal”:
“You can’t grasp the brilliance of a great painting just by looking at it,” said Phil Brehm, 32, who acknowledged that he hadn’t set foot inside a museum since a mandatory field trip in high school. “To truly appreciate fine art, you need to be able to run your fingers over its surface and explore its range of textures.”
“Or just rub your face all over it, like I do,” Brehm added.
The art for this one is fantastic.
Berlin’s Currywurst Gets the Museum Treatment
by Eva Holland | 08.18.09 | 1:32 PM ET
The Berlin staple may not have set Alison Stein Wellner’s head on fire when she went looking for the world’s hottest foods, but it remains one of Germany’s favorite sausage variations. And now, currywurst—diced sausage doused in ketchup and curry powder—is getting a museum of its very own.
Some of the weirder details, from Reuters: “An array of interactive exhibits guide visitors along a ‘sauce trail’ through the history and variety of the beloved dish ... A spice chamber scents the air with curry powder as guests relax on the giant ‘sauce sofa’, shaped like a squirt of ketchup while an eco-alley assesses the environmental impact of fast food.”
In Praise of American Gift Shops
by Eva Holland | 08.17.09 | 2:45 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland In the latest post at Flyover America, Jenna Schnuer, Sophia Dembling and Matt Villano (World Hum contributors, all) pick their favorites. I’ll be bookmarking the post—I love a good museum gift shop, whether in America or beyond. One of the best I’ve encountered is at Britain’s National Portrait Gallery. Chocolates wrapped in portraits of Henry VIII and his assortment of wives? Yes, please.
Museums and the Hunt for ‘Real Culture’ on the Road
by Eva Holland | 08.14.09 | 11:01 AM ET
In a recent post over at BootsnAll, Roger Wade explains why he believes museums are overrated. “If you think about it, with only a few exceptions, museums are all history museums one way or another,” he writes.
The most famous ones display stationary art that only the elite classes could ever hope to own or even see. Sure, some of them tell the stories of what life was really like at the time, but many of them are idealized versions or nothing like reality at all ... History certainly has its place, but when you visit Madrid today might it not be more interesting to see some intricacies of modern big city Spanish life than what a lone artist a few hundred years ago was thinking?
Later, after offering some museum alternatives—grocery stores and the like—he adds: “You’ll learn far more about their real culture of today in a place like this than you would at the famous museum…”
Now, I’m a big fan of foreign supermarkets. But I’m also a bona fide history geek, and as such I’m worried about what seems to be an increasingly popular theme in travel advice these days: the idea that museums, and history more generally, are somehow distinct or cut off from a destination’s true culture. Does anyone really think that a visit to the Terror House won’t improve their understanding of post-Soviet Budapest? Or that the Transit Museum doesn’t shed some light on the way New Yorkers live? And I know, I know, we’ve all had Madonna-and-Child art gallery overload at some point—but trying to understand the Catholic world without taking a look at its most powerful iconography seems crazy to me.
Go ahead, call me a geek, but I’ll balance out a good people-watching session with some museum time any day. And I just don’t see how the one is more “real” than the other.
Museums and the Lost Art of ‘Slow Looking’
by Eva Holland | 08.05.09 | 2:41 PM ET
In the New York Times this week, Michael Kimmelman watched tourists power-walking through the Louvre, and lamented the lost days of “slow looking” at museums and galleries. I enjoyed the article, and I can certainly relate—my first visit to Notre Dame, in Paris, was largely spoiled by a businessman who dashed up and down the aisles holding a camcorder over his head while shouting into a cellphone—but at the same time, if the faster-moving visitors aren’t actively disrupting the slowpokes, I don’t have much energy to condemn them.
After all, as Kimmelman himself says, there is “no single, correct way to look at any work of art, save for with an open mind and patience.” I think he had it right without the qualifiers.
Famous Underwear Displayed as Fine Art in Belgium
by Alicia Imbody | 07.20.09 | 12:23 PM ET
Belgian artist Jan Bucquoy has just opened the “Musee du Slip,” or underpants museum, a destination sure to appeal to those visitors already flocking to the nearby Brussels landmark Manneken-Pis. Bucquoy told Reuters that the framed underwear, donated mostly by Belgian artists, singers and politicians, represents a utopian longing for an equal society: “If you are scared of someone, just imagine them in their underpants. The hierarchy will fall and you will see that this is a guy like any other. We are all equal, all brothers.”
If you can’t make it to Belgium to see the aforementioned unmentionables, Bucquoy is planning a fall exhibition in Paris where he hopes to showcase underwear from Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni, and perhaps long shots like the Pope or Iranian President Ahmadinejad, articles he’s sure tourists would line up to see.
London’s Trafalgar Square: ‘Completely Uncivilized’
by Eva Holland | 07.14.09 | 1:09 PM ET
Long live the stereotype of the stuffy British academic. The director of Britain’s National Gallery, Dr. Nicholas Penny, isn’t happy with the state of affairs in London’s venerable public square, which the gallery overlooks—and he isn’t afraid to drop some harsh words on the subject. “Levels of civil behaviour are incredibly low,” he told the Times Online. “As I speak, people are riding the lions and climbing up as far as they can on the reliefs of Nelson’s Column.” Penny did, however, acknowledge that the rollerbladers in the square are “incredibly skillful.”
Finding Frederic Remington (in Upstate New York)
by Jenna Schnuer | 06.30.09 | 9:20 AM ET
Author and her grandfather, Sidney Friedfertig (35-plus years ago) The statues always felt out of place. I never really understood why my grandfather, Sidney Friedfertig, loved Frederic Remington’s work so much. While my grandfather was fond of all things Western, Remington’s pieces just struck me as harsh and ugly. I didn’t like them. What were they doing in my grandparents’ Westchester, NY, apartment, alongside my artist grandmother’s brightly colored oil paintings?
Though my grandfather passed away nearly 15 years ago, until recently I still hadn’t taken a shine to Remington. It was odd because, really, I thought he would have grown on me for sentimental reasons.
See This Now: ‘Give Peace a Chance’
by Eva Holland | 06.23.09 | 10:14 AM ET
Photo by Eva Holland As we’ve noted, this spring marked the 40th anniversary of John and Yoko’s iconic “bed-ins” for peace, first at the Amsterdam Hilton and later (and more famously) at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel. The commemorations in those two cities have passed, but a powerful exhibit about the Montreal bed-in has just opened at the Museum at Bethel Woods (aka the Woodstock museum), and it will remain open through the summer.
Battle Over the Elgin Marbles Rages On
by Eva Holland | 06.16.09 | 1:08 PM ET
We blogged about one writer’s sneak peek at the New Acropolis Museum last summer, and now opening day has finally arrived—predictably, not without controversy.
The museum was designed both to pressure Britain for the return of the Elgin Marbles, and to provide a worthy home for them after their (eventual, theoretical) return. With that context in mind, it’s no surprise that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the director of the British Museum—where the marbles are currently held—have all declined invitations to the grand opening on Saturday.
Finding Hawaii on the Mainland
by Pam Mandel | 06.12.09 | 4:01 PM ET
I’m not sure why I’m surprised when, on the mainland in the middle of rural territory, I find a town named “Aloha,” or when a festival in Seattle brings thousands of Hawaiians out to listen to traditional music and see hula. The Hawaiian diaspora is extensive—hey, it reaches all the way to the White House these days.
Samurais and Maharajas: It’s an Asian Art Summer
by Julia Ross | 06.08.09 | 3:34 PM ET
I’m fortunate to live in a city that’s home to one of the best Asian art museums in the world—the Smithsonian’s Freer-Sackler Gallery—but I’m not averse to traveling to see a really great museum or exhibit elsewhere. In fact, on a trip to Dublin last fall, I spent an entire afternoon immersed in the wonderful Chester Beatty Library, gazing at Persian paintings and Islamic manuscripts. I know, I know—I was supposed to be out drinking Guinness, but I couldn’t help myself.
St. Petersburg, Russia
by World Hum | 05.27.09 | 10:08 AM ET
REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk Visitors to the Hermitage Museum look at portraits of generals from Russia's 1812 campaign against Napoleon's army
Museums on Film: Three Memorable Moments
by Eva Holland | 05.21.09 | 1:24 PM ET
With Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian set to open this weekend, I’ve been thinking a lot about museums and the movies. The first Night at the Museum, released in 2006 and set at a fictionalized version of the American Museum of Natural History, raked in money at the box office and is credited with increasing attendance at the real-life Upper West Side museum by as much as 20 percent. According to USA Today, the Smithsonian is hoping to see similar benefits from its featured role in the sequel.
The two Ben Stiller vehicles may be remarkable for the amount of traffic they’re driving to museums, but they’re not unusual in their choice of setting. Museums and galleries have played prominent roles in any number of films and television shows over the years. Here, with apologies for my clear bias towards New York City and romance, are three of my favorite museum movie moments.
Ka’iulani: the Activist Princess
by Pam Mandel | 05.11.09 | 2:05 PM ET
The Hawaiian Hall at the Bishop Museum is still closed for renovations (we got a sneak peak on our visit—it’s going to be stunning when it opens in August) so there is only a limited amount of Hawaiian artifacts currently on view. The Kāhili Room at the museum is open, though—it’s in a different building—and it displays portraits of the Hawaiian monarchy and their feathered standards. These torch-like staffs were carried in front of royalty to visually announce their arrival.
Two of the portraits really stuck with me: the photo of Princess Ruth, a frowning, broad woman contained in severe Victorian dress, and the portrait of Princess Ka’iulani, also in Victorian attire but looking less awkward. Princess Ka’iulani cemented her place in the hearts of Native Hawaiians by traveling to the mainland to plead with Congress and two US Presidents for the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy.
A Twitter Road Trip Twitique: What Worked, What Didn’t
by Sophia Dembling | 05.08.09 | 9:48 AM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling My husband Tom and I recently drove a loop south from Albuquerque. (Here’s an annotated map of our route, in case you want to follow in our tire tracks.) This was the first time I’ve Twittered from the road. Interestingly, the great to-Twitter-or-not-to-Twitter debate started up while I was Twittering my trip and triggered a little metacognition about the process. Is it the right thing to do, and what makes a good travel Tweet?
Trip Planning: Museums on Twitter
by Jenna Schnuer | 04.15.09 | 9:34 AM ET
The experiment: ignore various, er, discussions over whether Twitter is good, distracting, or evil and find other ways to use it to enhance future travel experiences and planning. Since I tend to like museums big, small, and flat-out odd, I figured I would see what some U.S. museums are doing with it.
I’ll admit, I didn’t use the most scientific of methods. I searched Twitter for the term “museum” and, click by click by click, signed up for the first couple dozen on the list.
The information started to drip, drab, and, in some cases, flow in. Philadelphia’s Mutter Museum, famous for its jars of medical oddities, was (and I love this!) offering free health screenings (@MutterMuseum); Northport, Alabama’s Kentuck Museum (@KentuckMuseum) wanted you to put its April 24 poetry festival on your calendar; and Baltimore’s Walters Museum (@walters_museum) offered up a behind-the-scenes photo of an intern working on a Roman sarcophagus and an invitation to its college night with “mash-up DJ artists, tours, & more!”
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