ever since traveling to the netherlands five or so years ago, ann and dabney have considered europe the mecca for educational programming in museums. the things they do there are just out of this world interesting for nerds like a & d. for example, the
anne frank huis has this software that allows you to navigate the living space where anne and her family famously hid during the holocaust. the
rijksmuseum lets visitors go inside rembrandt's night watch, for one, and see a three-dimensional view of where subjects would have stood, or see the sketches that were the foundation of the painting. really interesting- and a view of art that you don't usually get.
ann and dabney recently read on
supernaturale that
helsinki's museum of modern art opened a place for folks to access vintage fabrics, buttons, ribbons, needles, sewing machines, badge-making machines, etc... that they can use (for free!) to make things.
it sounds like there are also folks on hand to provide some instruction on sewing, silkscreening and other techniques. the workspace is part of the helsinki museum's belief that museums shouldn't be stagnant entities. rather, they can be "more than just the memory of a nation, they can be centres of civic action in an increasingly ahistorical world."
don't you just love it?
I can think of one thing the MFA should get on the bandwagon and do. (What, me bitter?)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, that is such a cool thing! I can't sew to save my life, but what a great place to learn.
A couple of my students went to SF-MOMA a couple of weeks ago and were psyched to be able to get a podcast of an audio tour and listen to it on their iPods as they roamed around the museum.
Museums really are notoriously technophobic and new-idea-phobic--with the exception of brand-new museums. It's great to hear that some institutions are staying up with current technology and not being afraid of new ideas.