Phil & Monique: Stradivarius

FADE IN:

INT. MUSEUM CONFERENCE - GRAB-AND-GO CAFE - DAY

Sitting at a corner table are MONIQUE, exhibition developer wise beyond her years, and PHIL, anxious independent museum consultant.

MONIQUE: Remember that time a famous violinist played a Stradivarius in the subway, thousands passed by, and almost nobody stopped?

PHIL: Yeah, it was an experiment for an article about context and public taste.

MONIQUE: Right! But did you know he went back to DC a few years later, and played again? Except it was in the big train station, they promoted it, and there was a huge crowd.

PHIL: Huh. No.

MONIQUE: The same journalist asked if anyone remembered passing the violinist the first time, and people raised their hands. Same people, same violinist, same violin.

PHIL: …

MONIQUE: My point is, this is what our exhibitions do!

PHIL: …

MONIQUE: The commuters are our visitors. The violin is the collection object. The train station is the exhibition. We make the context that creates public taste!

PHIL: You mean, the frame makes the picture? The chest makes the treasure?

MONIQUE: Exactly! But now the world will say “The train station makes the Stradivarius!”

PHIL: The world might not be ready for that one.

MONIQUE: Give it time.

FADE OUT.