Mining the Museum

It was provocative, groundbreaking, stunning … and simple.

In 1992, Fred Wilson curated “Mining the Museum,” an exhibition at the Maryland Historical Society (now Maryland Center for History and Culture). It’s a precedent worth studying: here’s one article to start.

He designed it … by curating it. 

Wilson traveled regularly from NYC to Baltimore, spending time with the collection and staff. The exhibition was objects from the collection. The trick was the juxtapositions:

- A black baby carriage with a white Klan hood inside

- A case of repoussé silverware alongside metal slave shackles

- Empty sculpture pedestals with the names Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Benjamin Banneker

- Fugitive slave reward posters, surrounding a 19th century hunting rifle

- A cluster of armchairs around a traditional whipping post

And the building played a role. As Wilson said, “I liked the notion of surprise, especially in a museum setting in which you don’t expect surprise.”

Here’s the thing:
One of the most influential exhibition designs of all time had few artifacts, no technology, and no budget.

Let’s be inspired by that, and come up with some new ideas of our own.

Let’s make them provocative, groundbreaking, stunning … and simple.

Warmly,
Jonathan