HISTORY MUSEUM ACTIVITY
You are to USE THIS TEMPLATE in analyzing a museum exhibit. You will need to describe an exhibit in full detail, including what was the exhibit about and describe how the display was arranged. After describing the exhibit in full ask yourself, what cultural issues are being addressed?
Next, you will critique the exhibit for content and as a public educational exhibit by addressing the following questions (you need not be an expert in the field to accomplish this task, but rather take a hard look at the exhibit and provide a thoughtful answer).
I. Introduction
A. Introduce the Exhibit and Museum you are going to critique
B. Why you chose it
C. Procedures: Describe what you did during this project
II. Describe the exhibit in full detail
D. Optional: The exhibit may tell you:
1. How are the objects made and used?
2. Does the exhibit tell you how they have changed?
III. Exhibit Content Analysis
A. How does this exhibit inform us about people in a time and place?
B. Did the curator discuss the history of a culture or was the focus on the aesthetics of the objects or people seen in the exhibit?
C. Summarize this:
IV. Critique: consider the questions under categories A. B and C and write your critiques:
A. Critique as an Exhibit: what did you learn from this exhibit? Was the museum exhibit user friendly? That is- - was the text written so you could understand it? Was the display and text difficult to see or aesthetically pleasing? Was there a hands-on element to the exhibit?
B. Critique the Artifact use: How do the artifacts help or hinder the telling of the story? (For example, is it clear why the artifacts are there? Is there enough information about the artifacts? Did they relate to the text?)
C. Analyze the exhibit as a public education piece: What did the exhibit tell you about civilization?
have fun!
You are to USE THIS TEMPLATE in analyzing a museum exhibit. You will need to describe an exhibit in full detail, including what was the exhibit about and describe how the display was arranged. After describing the exhibit in full ask yourself, what cultural issues are being addressed?
Next, you will critique the exhibit for content and as a public educational exhibit by addressing the following questions (you need not be an expert in the field to accomplish this task, but rather take a hard look at the exhibit and provide a thoughtful answer).
I. Introduction
A. Introduce the Exhibit and Museum you are going to critique
B. Why you chose it
C. Procedures: Describe what you did during this project
II. Describe the exhibit in full detail
- Describe environment/ cultural landscape
- Required: What is the exhibit about?
- Required: Describe at least one artifact present in the exhibit
D. Optional: The exhibit may tell you:
1. How are the objects made and used?
2. Does the exhibit tell you how they have changed?
III. Exhibit Content Analysis
A. How does this exhibit inform us about people in a time and place?
B. Did the curator discuss the history of a culture or was the focus on the aesthetics of the objects or people seen in the exhibit?
C. Summarize this:
IV. Critique: consider the questions under categories A. B and C and write your critiques:
A. Critique as an Exhibit: what did you learn from this exhibit? Was the museum exhibit user friendly? That is- - was the text written so you could understand it? Was the display and text difficult to see or aesthetically pleasing? Was there a hands-on element to the exhibit?
B. Critique the Artifact use: How do the artifacts help or hinder the telling of the story? (For example, is it clear why the artifacts are there? Is there enough information about the artifacts? Did they relate to the text?)
C. Analyze the exhibit as a public education piece: What did the exhibit tell you about civilization?
have fun!