Conservation Team Research Articles

Cutting Edge of the Contemporary: KNUST, Accra, and the Ghanaian Contemporary Art Movement

Cutting Edge of the Contemporary: KNUST, Accra, and the Ghanaian Contemporary Art Movement

Institutional and artistic changes in Estonian performing arts with a case study of Vaba Lava / Open Space

The article gives an insight into the theatre system of Estonia, the development of the system in the turmoil of history and the current situation in the 21st century.
 The first part of the article looks back at the period of 30 years: what happened with the Estonian theatre system when it moved from the Soviet occupation period into the Republic of Estonia. We show the developments in the funding system of theatres during the big changes in the socio-economic environment. We give an insight into how theatres are funded nowadays: how the funding of public and private theatres is connected with the quantitative (the number of premieres, performances and visits to the theatre) and qualitative (nominations, awards and artistic tendencies) results.
 The second part of the article is a case study. We introduce a new type of performing arts organization in the Nordic and Baltic countries – Vaba Lava (Open Space) in Tallinn, which is funded as a PPP (public private partnership) in cooperation between the private and the public sector. Vaba Lava offers an open platform to all private theatres and companies offering them both a stage for performing as well as support services. The core of the Vaba Lava programme is its International Curated Programme. Performances of the programme are selected by a team of curators, who announce an International Open Call. The projects are selected from the applications submitted to the competition. We show how this kind of theatre is adapting to the funding system and what kind of performance strategies and working practices have been developed. We analyse what are the main artistic ideas of the international programme that also gives voice to underprivileged people talking about socially relevant themes.
 The general research questions of the article are: how Estonian theatre has developed during the last decades and how it is adapting to the prevailing financial system? What kind of performance strategies and working practices have been developed and how do the economic conditions affect the artistic outcome?

Access and Conservation at Pompeii: Strategies for Sustainable Co-existence

ABSTRACT The extraordinary surviving paintings and floor surfaces at Pompeii are subjected daily to environmental degradation and anthropic pressure. In 2017, the ancient city was visited by 3,400,000 tourists – almost 1,000,000 more than a mere 5 years earlier. This figure looks set to increase, as a result of the revival that the site has undergone in recent years, thanks to generous funding from the European Union and the work of the Great Pompeii Project, which has enabled the reopening of a large number of domestic properties and indeed entire urban quarters which had been closed for decades. However, the increase in site usage necessitates more attention to be paid to conservation. Preventive conservation and planned maintenance, overseen by the Great Pompeii Project, represent the first response. It is conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of archaeologists, architects, conservators and specialists who are present on the site every day, responsible for the management of emergencies, and policy planning through organisation, study, application and evaluation of the consequences. Due to increased tourist numbers, the monitoring team covers every single accessible building, to study the dynamics of visitor flow, and to identify possible interventions to mitigate the effects of anthropic pressure.

After the Fall

On November 17, 2016 in the Department of Botany at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), one of the electrical compactor bays suffered a catastrophic failure of the electrical system resulting in the unit malfunctioning. All safety measures in the unit failed causing the collapse of 17 herbarium cases containing part of our Fabaceae collection and damaging 14 additional cases as they fell to the floor. These three minutes of chaos lead to a yearlong recovery process. A safeguard for such a disaster is digitization. In this row all but one of the cases had been completely imaged and inventoried into our database system. These records provided a way to note both the damage and conservation treatments used for each sheet. A team of individuals with various experts, is required to fully recover from a disaster. In the first critical minutes after the disaster, the building facility team and department staff mobilized to secure and clean the area. Over the following weeks; the conservation team based in NMNH assessed the damage, while the herbarium staff created swing space. The NMNH Collection Program provided the personnel to check the 19,241 specimens affected by the collapse. The Informatics team helped to fine-tune the conservation module in our database, which was used to note treatments. Finally, the Smithsonian National Collection Program provided vital funds to rebuild the collapsed compactor and to convert the remaining three compactors to function safely. A review of the disaster is the final step in the process. There were areas where our response was perfect while there were other areas where improvement is needed. In reality a procedure on paper may not account for all of the variables that could happen during a disaster. A disaster procedure can provide a basic outline but needs to be flexible in a real life situation. Before a disaster strikes, the staff should review the collection area with a “new set of eyes." There are many hidden dangers in plain sight. Another important tool is digitization. Digitalization is critical for preserving the collections. Digital records provides a reference to note conservation treatments if needed. Finally, it is the staff that provides the experience and physical effort necessary for the clean-up. Training is important as well as building connections to reserves of experience either internally among the staff or externally such as connections to the SPNHC community.

Historic landscape and site preservation at Gordion, Turkey: an archaeobotanist’s perspective

Archaeobotanical perspectives inform site conservation and presentation at Gordion, Turkey. The historical landscape there includes about 240 royal burial mounds and the archaeological site of Gordion. The tumuli and the historical landscape in which they sit are threatened by agricultural development and suburbanization. The excavated part of the site is exposed to the elements. Protection of the largest tumulus against uncontrolled grazing has reduced erosion and led to biodiversity preservation. Plant management practices coordinated with the architectural conservation team are under development. On stone structures, soft caps are planted with Poa bulbosa and a selective weeding programme aims at keeping deep-rooted plants from destroying the stonework. Education and outreach for local people and tourists include a native plant garden and self-guided walking tours.

Interactive Learning: The Sounds of Bonne Chance

Our Project, Bonne Chance, meaning good luck in French, is an immersive language learning game that manifests in the form of a mobile app. The game is designed as a course-companion for French 111 and 112 beginning language courses for college students. Instead of merely computerizing old teaching practices or creating grammar practice cards, we are radically re-envisioning the design of the learning experience. This project endeavors to build an “ecology of learning that extends beyond the four walls of an institution and engages [students] in ways that are exciting, empowering and culturally relevant” (Salen et al., 201100. The Project functions under four teams: the coding team, the user experience engagement team, the music curation and production team, and the app development team. As the music team, we focus on the music and sounds of Bonne Chance. The music and sounds of Bonne Chance contribute to this ecology by curating an authentically French soundtrack of pre-composed and original music, stimulating the learning environment, creating a sense of historical accuracy, and channeling the primary purpose of the game, which is to help immerse students in the French language. By conducting research into French composers and cultural trends throughout the ages, French musical history can be characterized as a diverse and central figure in the arts of humanity. French history has shaped human history, and its music sheds light on the roots of its global influence. The game itself is currently still in a series of prototype phases as we continue to test our most viable product [MVP]. Through our game-based learning application, our audience of elementary-level French students will gain language learning skills and intercultural empathy. Working in an innovative studio environment has allowed us to grow in the domains of collaboration, project management, programming, music history, research, music composition, music arranging, and music production. ­

6. The Art of Absence: The Practice of Contemporary Curating

In fall 2016, ARTH 422: Contemporary Curating had the unique opportunity to curate an exhibition for the spring 2017 season at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Under the guidance of Jennifer Kennedy, our curatorial team of 12 students worked closely together to develop a theme, set out objectives, select art works from the Agnes’ Contemporary Collection, and organize an exhibition catalogue.
 The curator has gained a significant role with the emergence of Contemporary Art, which predominantly de-emphasizes the tangible object and relocates it to the idea. Whereas traditional concerns included style, mode, medium and ideology, contemporary artists express interests encompassing place making, world picturing, and connectivity. As a mediator between artists and audiences, the curator treats art as a verb: transforming a constellation of silent objects into a moving, illuminated, dynamic experience.
 Our process began with researching and developing a theoretical and applied understanding of a curator's role and contemporary curatorial practice. Our collaborative process involved investigations of ‘absence’ along with the affective, existential, and relational intensities that live beyond our perceptive abilities. As a team of 12, we collectively worked through the challenges of reaching an open audience, limitations of physical space, time constraints, and adapting to unforeseen complications. As curators, we worked to create an affective experience/dialogue that goes beyond the initial encounter of art and offer a space to bridge the gap between art and life. Our aim in the exhibition was to reassure the viewer that confusion is positive and welcome and encourages critical dialogue and thinking.

Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths

Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths

Alice Correia. Review of "Artist and Empire: Facing Britain’s Imperial Past" by David Blayney Brown, Carol Jacobi, and Alison Smith.

Artist and Empire: Facing Britain’s Imperial Past is both a fascinating and frustrating compendium of art made since the sixteenth century that either depicts, reflects, or comments upon, British colonialism. Written by a team of Tate curators, with contributions by Gus Casely-Hayford, Annie E. Coombes, Paul Gilroy, Nicholas Thomas and Sean Willcock, this exhibition catalogue seeks to address the legacies of the British Empire: to reconsider how Empire was recorded and perceived by those artists actively involved in, or affected by, Britain’s colonial enterprise; to equitably present and reconsider artworks by indigenous or colonized people; to identify and celebrate artistic cross-fertilization and hybrid adaptation; and to examine artistic post-colonial critique.

The return of the Iberian lynx to Portugal: local voices

BackgroundEthnographic research can help to establish dialog between conservationists and local people in reintroduction areas. Considering that predator reintroductions may cause local resistance, we assessed attitudes of different key actor profiles to the return of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) to Portugal before reintroduction started in 2015. We aimed to characterize a social context from an ethnoecological perspective, including factors such as local knowledge, perceptions, emotions, and opinions.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews (n = 131) in three different protected areas and observed practices and public meetings in order to describe reintroduction contestation, emotional involvement with the species, and local perceptions about conservation. Detailed content data analysis was undertaken and an open-ended codification of citations was performed with the support of ATLAS.ti. Besides the qualitative analyses, we further explored statistic associations between knowledge and opinions and compared different geographical areas and hunters with non-hunters among key actors.ResultsLocal ecological knowledge encompassed the lynx but was not shared by the whole community. Both similarities and differences between local and scientific knowledge about the lynx were found. The discrepancies with scientific findings were not necessarily a predictor of negative attitudes towards reintroduction. Contestation issues around reintroduction differ between geographical areas but did not hinder an emotional attachment to the species and its identification as a territory emblem. Among local voices, financial compensation was significantly associated to hunters and nature tourism was cited the most frequent advantage of lynx presence. Materialistic discourses existed in parallel with non-economic factors and the existence of moral agreement with its protection.The considerable criticism and reference to restrictions by local actors concerning protected areas and conservation projects indicated the experience of an imposed model of nature conservation. Opinions about participation in the reintroduction process highlighted the need for a closer dialog between all actors and administration.ConclusionsLocal voices analyzed through an ethnoecological perspective provide several views on reintroduction and nature conservation. They follow two main global trends of environmental discourse: (1) nature becomes a commodified object to exploit while contestation about wildlife is centered on financial return and (2) emblematic wild species create an emotional attachment, become symbolic, and gather moral agreement for nature protection.Lynx reintroduction has been not only just a nature protection theme but also a negotiation process with administration. Western rural communities are not the “noble savages” and nature protectors as are other traditional groups, and actors tend to claim for benefits in a situation of reintroduction. Both parties comprehend a similar version of appropriated nature.Understanding complexity and diverse interests in local communities are useful in not oversimplifying local positions towards predator conservation. We recommend that professional conservation teams rethink their image among local populations and increase proximity with different types of key actors.

Treasures from the Hispanic Society of America: Visions of the Hispanic World by Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Reviewed by: Treasures from the Hispanic Society of America: Visions of the Hispanic World by Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid Debra Jackson Philippe de Montebello, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Hispanic Society of America, espouses a quaint notion regarding the museum-going public. In a recent interview he surmised that tourists in Madrid—with limited time to enjoy the sights—would never go online looking for what's on view at the Prado. "You go for its collections," he quipped, "and if they happen to have a special exhibition, good." That claim may seem improbable in this age of free apps and social media platforms, but for this reviewer visiting Madrid last July, his assessment was correct. The highlight of my week in Madrid was an entire day at the Prado. The Prado visit included, to my astonishment, a special exhibition loan from the Hispanic Society of America. It was an incredible opportunity to explore the collections of an under-appreciated New York City institution located in Washington Heights on Manhattan Island's northern reaches. The Hispanic Society Museum and Library's uptown location (Broadway at 155th Street) is far off the beaten path for ordinary tourists visiting the city. Even for those with a keen appreciation of the visual arts it is an exceptional choice. Indeed, the Hispanic Society is home to "the most important collection of Hispanic art" outside of Spain. The loan to the Prado is a cultural exchange that is certain to raise the visibility and prestige of the Hispanic Society, which sent more than two hundred of its finest objects to the Prado while its home undergoes extensive renovation. In fact, it is the refurbishment of the Hispanic Society's 1905 building that prompted the loan, which was successfully orchestrated on this side of the Atlantic Ocean by Hispanic [End Page 147] Society curator Mitchell A. Codding and Board chair Philippe de Montebello. The challenges of organizing an exhibition for international loan are formidable, particularly ensuring the door-to-door safety of precious objects. Equally daunting for Mitchell Codding and his team of conservators and curators was the selection of just over two hundred works—from among the Hispanic Society's repository of 500,000—that will represent the finest examples of Hispanic culture. The sheer breadth and richness of the collections afforded abundant material from which to choose, and resulted in a presentation that spanned the ages from antiquity to the twentieth century. This was an artistic collaboration on a grand scale that the Hispanic Society's visionary founder would have heartily approved. Archer Milton Huntington (1870-1955) was a scholar and philanthropist, a true man of letters whose passionate interest in Hispanic culture inspired extensive travel, participation in archeological expeditions and the commitment of his considerable financial resources to the establishment of a "Hispanic Museum." Its opening was a goal he had cherished from his teenage years. Under the tutelage of Professor William Ireland Knapp of Yale University, Huntington became an ardent Hispanist, and traveled to Europe for the first time in 1882. He visited Spain for the first time a decade later, though his initial, direct experience of Spanish culture was in 1889 when he joined his parents on a trip to Mexico. Two years later a visit to Cuba afforded him "many new Spanish impressions." It is tempting to speculate how these travels in Latin America might have influenced his artistic tastes. But Huntington was clearly enthralled with Spanish society both in the New World and on the Iberian peninsula. Huntington's wide-ranging travels throughout Spain enhanced his cultural expertise while affording opportunities to meet dealers, collectors and to purchase fine objects. He had a keen eye for quality, and as a very young man displayed the confidence to acquire significant additions to his holdings; at the age of eighteen he purchased a large collection of coins from a private owner. And the acquisition of the personal library of the Marquis of Jerez de los Caballeros secured a collection so extraordinary that only Madrid's Biblioteca Nacional held comparable works. When Huntington's growing collections finally outgrew his residence, his dream of a museum materialized with the...

3D digital documentation for disaster management in historic buildings: Applications following fire damage at the Mackintosh building, The Glasgow School of Art

Abstract 3D digital documentation generates accurate spatial data. This data can be processed and developed for use in a range of different applications. Within the cultural heritage sector, the use of 3D data is becoming more established to aid conservation. However, little work has been done to investigate the role of scanning surveys for postfire inspection of historic buildings with timber components. The Glasgow School of Art and Historic Environment Scotland have been working collaboratively on digital heritage projects for almost a decade. When the fire at the Mackintosh building occurred on 23rd May 2014, the joint team immediately began a programme of emergency 3D digital documentation in the fire-affected areas. Prior to this, The Glasgow School of Art had undertaken a laser scan survey of the exterior of the Mackintosh building in 2008. Subsequently, comprehensive laser scanning has been carried out throughout the whole building. This paper outlines how and why 3D digital documentation was carried out, highlighting the immediate benefits for disaster management and immediate decision making in an emergency situation and additionally, demonstrates the ongoing research benefits for the longer-term conservation and restoration of the Mackintosh. The results of the documentation produced an accurate and high-resolution 3D spatial record of a significant historic building despite the challenging material properties of the postfire interior environment. Analysis of the data provided conservation teams and building control with valuable metrics for building access, health and safety and structural deformation.

Luxury in Europe 1600–1815: Negotiating Narratives 2010–15

In December 2015 the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) opened galleries devoted to the art and design of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century continental Europe. The gallery narrative relays three key messages about the period: that, for the first time ever, in their art and design Europeans systematically explored, exploited and collected resources from Africa, Asia and the Americas; second, that France took over from Italy as the undisputed leader of fashionable art and design in Europe and finally, that ways of living came to resemble those we know today. This article explains briefly how the curatorial and learning team went about devising these narratives, against the backdrop of the practicalities that dictate a V&A vision of early modern Europe, including past and current policies determining what is available for display, how and where it is to be displayed, and what current and future visitors know and expect in terms of interpretation.

Abstract 2599: COSMIC Cancer Gene Census: expert descriptions across genes in oncogenesis

Abstract The Cancer Gene Census is an ongoing effort to catalogue genes for which somatic mutations have been causally implicated in cancer. The Census comprises manually curated summaries of the most relevant information for cancer-driving genes and their somatic mutations and brings together the expertise of a dedicated curation team, cancer scientists and the comprehensive resources of the COSMIC database. Current research focuses on characterising the participation of 609 census genes in hallmarks of cancer and identification of additional genes involved in these biological traits primarily via altered expression, CNA or epigenetic changes. New overviews of cancer gene function focused on hallmarks of cancer pull together manually curated information on the function of proteins coded by cancer genes and summarises the data in simple graphical form. It presents a condensed overview of most relevant facts with quick access to the literature source, aiming to provide summary characteristics of a cancer gene, rather than a full monography, to avoid information overload. This functional characterisation enables the creation of lists of genes of interest focused on the particular role they play in the development of cancer, as well as aiming to identify the cellular functions affected by mutations in particular tumours, and help to choose right targets for targeted therapy or synthetic lethality experiments. The Census is available from the COSMIC website for online use or download at: http://cancer.sanger.ac.uk/census. Citation Format: Zbyslaw Sondka, Sally Bamford, Charlotte G. Cole, Elisabeth Dawson, Laura Ponting, Raymund Stefancsik, Sari A. Ward, John Tate, Peter J. Campbell, Simon A. Forbes. COSMIC Cancer Gene Census: expert descriptions across genes in oncogenesis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2599. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2599

Not just seeing, but also feeling art: Mid-air haptic experiences integrated in a multisensory art exhibition

Abstract The use of the senses of vision and audition as interactive means has dominated the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) for decades, even though nature has provided us with many more senses for perceiving and interacting with the world around us. That said, it has become attractive for HCI researchers and designers to harness touch, taste, and smell in interactive tasks and experience design. In this paper, we present research and design insights gained throughout an interdisciplinary collaboration on a six-week multisensory display – Tate Sensorium – exhibited at the Tate Britain art gallery in London, UK. This is a unique and first time case study on how to design art experiences whilst considering all the senses (i.e., vision, sound, touch, smell, and taste), in particular touch, which we exploited by capitalizing on a novel haptic technology, namely, mid-air haptics. We first describe the overall set up of Tate Sensorium and then move on to describing in detail the design process of the mid-air haptic feedback and its integration with sound for the Full Stop painting by John Latham (1961). This was the first time that mid-air haptic technology was used in a museum context over a prolonged period of time and integrated with sound to enhance the experience of visual art. As part of an interdisciplinary team of curators, sensory designers, sound artists, we selected a total of three variations of the mid-air haptic experience (i.e., haptic patterns), which were alternated at dedicated times throughout the six-week exhibition. We collected questionnaire-based feedback from 2500 visitors and conducted 50 interviews to gain quantitative and qualitative insights on visitors’ experiences and emotional reactions. Whilst the questionnaire results are generally very positive with only a small variation of the visitors’ arousal ratings across the three tactile experiences designed for the Full Stop painting, the interview data shed light on the differences in the visitors’ subjective experiences. Our findings suggest multisensory designers and art curators can ensure a balance between surprising experiences versus the possibility of free exploration for visitors. In addition, participants expressed that experiencing art with the combination of mid-air haptic and sound was immersive and provided an up-lifting experience of touching without touch. We are convinced that the insights gained from this large-scale and real-world field exploration of multisensory experience design exploiting a new and emerging technology provide a solid starting point for the HCI community, creative industries, and art curators to think beyond conventional art experiences. Specifically, our work demonstrates how novel mid-air technology can make art more emotionally engaging and stimulating, especially abstract art that is often open to interpretation.

Negotiating the values of popular music in the museum

Museums are agents of cultural valuation where objects are selected, interpreted, exhibited, and turned into heritage. How does popular culture affect the cultural logic of the museum and how does the museum approach these new cultural contents? The text focuses on the case of the ABBAWORLD exhibition presented at the Powerhouse Museum, in Sydney, Australia. Based on interviews with the curatorial team and a comprehensive audience survey, the study aims to understand how the music of ABBA is defined as heritage through the design and the experience of the display. It compares the exhibition previously staged by Swedish producers in Melbourne (2010) and its re-curation at the Powerhouse Museum—focusing on the representation of popular music, the narratives of the exhibition, and the choice of devices to experience popular music in the museum. It discusses the (re)valuation of popular music as heritage and the role of the museum as heritage’s ‘respondent’. The case study illustrates the growing importance of the mediatization of popular culture for museums and cultural industries.

IDENTIFICATION OF 3D LEACHATE DISTRIBUTION IN SEMARANG STATE UNIVERSITY LANDFILL

Abstract Waste management system at Semarang State University (UNNES) landfill implements a system of open dumping located in Banaran, Gunungpati, Semarang City. Data from Conservation Team UNNES on December 28, 2010 about the volume of waste per day from UNNES showed that the majority of waste is organic waste. This study aims to determine of 3D distribution leachate. Resistivity geoelectrical method Schlumberger configuration is used to indicate leachate. Data collection was performed three tracks, which three tracks parallel East-West direction, with a path length of 75 m each. The profile of leachate water in the surrounding area of UNNES landfill can be observed ± 20 m depth from the surface. Data processing was performed using software Res2Dinv, Surfer 10.0, and RockWorks 15. Based on the results, resistivity of leachate is 1,87-9,9 Ωm with the direction of flow to a lower elevation areas. Keywords: geoelectrical, leachate, resistivity, Schlumberger's configuration

Public histories of incarceration: reflecting on museums and social change

ABSTRACTCalifornia has a long history of criminalizing youth of color. Gang injunctions and the policies which structure the “school to prison pipeline” are contemporary expressions of this. As members of the graduate student curatorial team at the University of California Riverside, our contribution to the Humanities Action Lab’s national exhibition States of Incarceration was to chart the genealogy of sites of surveillance and policing of bodies of color, from the Sherman Indian School in Riverside, CA, to the streets of 1940s Los Angeles, to the public schools and diverse urban neighborhoods of the twenty-first century. In Detention: The War on Youth treats the policies, practices, and sites of policing and surveillance of youthful bodies as the building blocks of a carceral state which has as its end goal the social control of particular kinds of racialized bodies. As our nation’s carceral project continues to expand, we, as public historians, are called to respond to the crisis. We must continue to make public the histories of surveillance, policing, and incarcerating black and brown bodies.

Preserving an obscure bird: achievements and future challenges of Corncrake (Crex crex Linnaeus, 1758) conservation in Hungary

Abstract The Corncrake is a strictly protected species in Hungary and a qualifying species of many Natura 2000 sites. Despite its Least concern global conservation status, it receives much attention and was elected as “Bird of the Year” by MME BirdLife Hungary in 2016. In this paper, we estimate its population trends and analyse the suitability of the protected area system and agri-environment schemes for the species. We compiled information on major threatening factors and conservation measures applied for the species. We reviewed international publications on the ecology and conservation management of the species to extract information for practical conservation. We estimated that 500–2000 pairs of Corncrakes breed in Hungary. Although their breeding sites are well covered by protected areas, Natura 2000 sites (42%) and High Nature Value Areas (67%), their population has declined by 55% over the last 20 years. We found that most of the major threatening factors are addressed by conservation management, and appropriate measures are applied in most cases. Recent research findings and recommendations by the BirdLife International Corncrake Conservation Team suggest that mowing of grasslands around nesting places should be delayed until 1–15 August either in the entire field or at least on 2 hectares around nests. Prescriptions of agri-environment schemes should also be adjusted to the above requirements and more farmers should be encouraged to enrol in Corncrake conservation programmes. We strongly suggest that more emphasis should be devoted to combat important threats for the most important breeding sites such as aridification and flooding.

‘Don’t forget the magic’: the life and death of the British Film Institute’s Museum of the Moving Image, London

From 1988 until its closure in 1999, the British Film Institute’s groundbreaking Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) on London’s South Bank attracted several million visitors and critical acclaim. This account is authored by a member of the Curatorial team (1989–1996), and presented in three parts. First is a review of precedents and influences behind the project’s development and critical reception, including a review of its collections and education. Next is a reflection on two temporary exhibitions, home movies, and the problem of updating exhibitions, given priorities and attendance figures. Finally, MOMI’s closure and reinvention as MOMI 2 is considered in light of different approaches to media museums. The history of BFI’s MOMI is set within broader challenges of time-based media as a museum subject, and the article includes observations on practical considerations and their impact on conceptual and academic concerns. The author privileges exhibitions and displays on which he had a curatorial role and those that accentuated early popular visual culture, although these constitute a small part of the museum’s scope.