#thestartofsomething

Okay, Leanza you got this! Wooh yea! (Yes, I need to hype myself up to work on this research because I am just going to freak out and panic. I hope this is okay.)

I am english major so of course one of the first things that catches my attention is a piece of writing. A lot of the time when I encounter a piece of writing I begin to question why it was written, how it was written, who wrote it, what is the piece doing - or attempting to do -, and recently why was it placed here? Now, I know that’s an odd question to ask. We don’t usually think about why a piece of writing was “placed” in a specific place because we don’t actually think about it being placed anywhere besides our hands so we can read it or on a poster for propaganda. Since being here, I have noticed that a lot of different museums seem to incorporate different forms of writing into their exhibitions. This was something that seemed new to me, something I haven’t really seen before or maybe just haven’t caught on to. I think it’s interesting to think about what different types of writing do and how they function in a certain space and whether or not it adds something or takes away something from the space.

For my research project I think I am going to compare the British Museum with the Museums of London. Specifically I will be comparing the different types of writing in both museums and its functions within them. I will discuss whether or not I think the writing is effective and necessary. I will also be discussing who is steering the narratives of the histories portrayed in specific exhibitions of the museums. I will gather research on the history of the two museums and the foundations for which they were built on. For the British Museum I will also look up information on the debate between who should keep the objects in the Pantheon room and how the British Museum acquired so many Egyptian artifacts. I am also interested in learning more about how museums were originally defined, what they were intended for, and who was allowed to go to these museums (maybe connect this with the spread of specific narratives). I believe I also overheard someone say that the slavery exhibition in the Museum of London Docklands is the only permanent exhibition in that museum or the only permanent slavery exhibition in London, so I would definitely like to look more into that as well. I’m also going to do more research on Carol Duncan and what she has to say about museums and the role they play. I know this looks like a lot of pieces right now, but I am somehow going to figure out how to bring it all together.

List of locations:

British Museum

Museum of London/ Museum of London Docklands

National Museum of Scotland?

List of sources:

The Art Museum as a Ritual by Carol Duncan http://ezproxy.drew.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=9504072104&site=eds-live&scope=site

Putting the ‘Nation’ in London’s National Gallery by Carol Duncan http://www.openbibart.fr/item/display/10068/937623