BY: BRITTNEY SPROULE
Happy Museum Week everyone!
While one of our Museum Week goals here at Musings is to try and highlight the important cultural contributions and cultural value of smaller, perhaps lesser known museums, I couldn't help but deviate slightly from that mission with a museum news story I felt was quite significant. Also, there's nothing us museum folk like more than to see the opening of a brand new museum in the headlines! As such, I give you this article from Time.com, announcing the May 21, 2014 opening of the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York City, at the former site of the World Trade Center.
To give you a sense of the Museum's intents and purposes, here is an excerpt from the 9/11 Memorial Museum's mission statement:
"The National September 11 Memorial Museum, opening on May 21, 2014, will serve as the country’s principal institution for examining the implications of the events of 9/11, documenting the impact of those events and exploring the continuing significance of September 11, 2001."
I encourage you to check out the full mission statement here.
For a helpful intro to the Museum and the thought processes behind its construction as well as the representation of its subject matter (and the related challenges of such a task), check out this interview with the Museum's Director, Alice Greenwald:
One thing I find particularly interesting about Alice Greenwald is, according to the link attached to her name above, she used to be Associate Museum Director for Museum Programs for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. As such, I'd certainly be curious to know how her experiences working with the difficult knowledge exhibited by the Holocaust Memorial influenced her work at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Or, how her experiences with these two Memorial Museums differ from each other -- I wonder how presenting difficult, emotionally charged information about an event like the Holocaust differs (or not) from presenting information about/commemorating 9/11?
Talk about heavy jobs.
Also, I wonder if it has been particularly challenging for 9/11 Memorial Museum curators thinking about how to frame the information/objects presented in the museum since 9/11 is a fairly "recent" event in terms of the greater historical picture. Many of those who the event directly affected (survivors, families of survivors, relief workers, etc.) are still very much alive and will likely be visiting the museum. How does one, as a curator, do justice to respectfully and truthfully representing an event like 9/11 for the people who were directly affected by 9/11 but also for the general public? As Greenwald says in her interview, how does one find balance between commemoration but also education in regards to subject matter such as this?
Here's a behind the scenes tour of the interior of the Museum from 2013, lead by the Museum's President, Joe Daniels and Director Alice Greenwald.
I'm particularly fascinated by the 9/11 Memorial Museum space. While this footage is taken during construction of the Museum, the digitally created images of the finished interior show the inside as reminiscent of a construction zone --very industrial, a lot of exposed concrete and metal, ramps connecting different levels. This is likely intentional, to acknowledge the destruction of Ground Zero, the resulting chaos of the scene after the towers fell, and the resulting clean up process. Do you think this is an effective way of contributing to the overall experience of the 9/11 museum-- by utilizing space to evoke certain feelings, emotions, reactions?
Not only is the Museum located on the site of the former WTC towers, but it also incorporates a lot of the remnants/debris from the towers in both its artifact collection and within the very structure of the Museum building itself (along with other types of artifacts as well - like oral history accounts, photographs of victims, etc). Does incorporating these WTC building remnants right into the museum itself help (or not) create an even more touching, disturbing, or perhaps even awe-inspiring experience for visitors? If the Museum was located somwhere else in NYC, not directly on the WTC site, would it be just as impactful?
I leave you now with a particularly controversial artifact, the World Trade Center Cross (above), a piece of debris from the WTC towers which happened to take on the shape of a cross. Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, many Americans saw this as a Christian symbol of God's presence and of the existence of hope in a tragic situation. Others, however, felt this view was exclusionary to non-Christians and that this piece should not be displayed at a national memorial site. Feel free to read about this particular piece here, as it raises some very interesting questions about representation in museums.
As always, we welcome you to share your thoughts and comments about anything discussed in this post or others!
Happy Museum Week everyone!
While one of our Museum Week goals here at Musings is to try and highlight the important cultural contributions and cultural value of smaller, perhaps lesser known museums, I couldn't help but deviate slightly from that mission with a museum news story I felt was quite significant. Also, there's nothing us museum folk like more than to see the opening of a brand new museum in the headlines! As such, I give you this article from Time.com, announcing the May 21, 2014 opening of the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York City, at the former site of the World Trade Center.
 | |
| Outer facade of National September 11 Memorial Museum. Inside you can see the two tridents made out of salvaged metal from the World Trade Center towers. |
To give you a sense of the Museum's intents and purposes, here is an excerpt from the 9/11 Memorial Museum's mission statement:
"The National September 11 Memorial Museum, opening on May 21, 2014, will serve as the country’s principal institution for examining the implications of the events of 9/11, documenting the impact of those events and exploring the continuing significance of September 11, 2001."
I encourage you to check out the full mission statement here.
For a helpful intro to the Museum and the thought processes behind its construction as well as the representation of its subject matter (and the related challenges of such a task), check out this interview with the Museum's Director, Alice Greenwald:
One thing I find particularly interesting about Alice Greenwald is, according to the link attached to her name above, she used to be Associate Museum Director for Museum Programs for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. As such, I'd certainly be curious to know how her experiences working with the difficult knowledge exhibited by the Holocaust Memorial influenced her work at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Or, how her experiences with these two Memorial Museums differ from each other -- I wonder how presenting difficult, emotionally charged information about an event like the Holocaust differs (or not) from presenting information about/commemorating 9/11?
Talk about heavy jobs.
Also, I wonder if it has been particularly challenging for 9/11 Memorial Museum curators thinking about how to frame the information/objects presented in the museum since 9/11 is a fairly "recent" event in terms of the greater historical picture. Many of those who the event directly affected (survivors, families of survivors, relief workers, etc.) are still very much alive and will likely be visiting the museum. How does one, as a curator, do justice to respectfully and truthfully representing an event like 9/11 for the people who were directly affected by 9/11 but also for the general public? As Greenwald says in her interview, how does one find balance between commemoration but also education in regards to subject matter such as this?
 |
| Exhibition gallery featuring one of the first fire trucks on the scene after the WTC towers fell on 9/11. |
Here's a behind the scenes tour of the interior of the Museum from 2013, lead by the Museum's President, Joe Daniels and Director Alice Greenwald.
I'm particularly fascinated by the 9/11 Memorial Museum space. While this footage is taken during construction of the Museum, the digitally created images of the finished interior show the inside as reminiscent of a construction zone --very industrial, a lot of exposed concrete and metal, ramps connecting different levels. This is likely intentional, to acknowledge the destruction of Ground Zero, the resulting chaos of the scene after the towers fell, and the resulting clean up process. Do you think this is an effective way of contributing to the overall experience of the 9/11 museum-- by utilizing space to evoke certain feelings, emotions, reactions?
Not only is the Museum located on the site of the former WTC towers, but it also incorporates a lot of the remnants/debris from the towers in both its artifact collection and within the very structure of the Museum building itself (along with other types of artifacts as well - like oral history accounts, photographs of victims, etc). Does incorporating these WTC building remnants right into the museum itself help (or not) create an even more touching, disturbing, or perhaps even awe-inspiring experience for visitors? If the Museum was located somwhere else in NYC, not directly on the WTC site, would it be just as impactful?
 |
| World Trade Center Cross, now located in the 9/11 Memorial Museum |
I leave you now with a particularly controversial artifact, the World Trade Center Cross (above), a piece of debris from the WTC towers which happened to take on the shape of a cross. Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, many Americans saw this as a Christian symbol of God's presence and of the existence of hope in a tragic situation. Others, however, felt this view was exclusionary to non-Christians and that this piece should not be displayed at a national memorial site. Feel free to read about this particular piece here, as it raises some very interesting questions about representation in museums.
As always, we welcome you to share your thoughts and comments about anything discussed in this post or others!
