In the following pages I describe what happens when an exhibit dense in local meanings enters the national arena. The Yup'ik mask exhibit Agayuliyararput (Our Way of Making Prayer) began as visual repatriation—bringing objects out of museums back into a local context—and ended as a tribal exhibit displayed in three very different majority institutions, including an American Indian museum, a natural history museum, and an art museum. The mask exhibit was developed as a three-way collaboration between Yup'ik community members, an anthropologist, and museum professionals. As it traveled farther
In this paper, Robert C. Webb, of Suffolk University, presents literature related to much-debated topic about using music in an exhibit. In particular, Webb discusses four topics of interest to museum professionals: (1) the complexity of the term "background music" (2) the roles and uses of mood created by music (3) the use of music to cue appropriate behavior and perceptions and (4) the influence of background music on the comprehension of verbal material.
In this article, M. Hagedorn-Saupe discusses visitor-related research efforts at the Institute fur Museumskunde in Berlin. Hagedorn-Saupe provides an overview of data collection studies on museum visits and related projects, visitor research projects and collaboration with other institutions, and long-term projects at the Institute.
In this article, Gillian McIntyre, Adult Program Coordinator at the Art Gallery of Ontario, analyzes the successes and challenges of the Gallery's "In Your Face: the people's portrait project" exhibit. The goal of this exhibition was to create a gallery made entirely by and for the public. Visitors submitted postcard-sized portraits in any medium of their choice including writing. McIntyre explores the public response, exhibition design, achievements, and obstacles associated with this experimental exhibit design.
In this article, Mary Jane Taylor, Interim Director of Public Programs at Winterthur Museum & Country Estate, shares the Request for Proposal process associated with the "Made in China: Export Porcelain from the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur" exhibition and the associated "Design your own plate" interactive. Evaluation results and RFP are included in this article.