Narrative and the Museum of London
Having turned up at the wrong Museum for the Lamas Conference (!) I was able to spend a few minutes double checking my analysis of the Museum's narrative structure.
Previously, I have written: 'The Museum of London building opened in 1976,by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, was one of the first museums in Britain that was purpose built with the demands of museum narrative in mind. They designed the Museum with a single route way through the system – starting with the prehistoric gallery, which lead to the Roman Gallery, a dark passage led through the Dark Ages to the Medieval section. A Tudor gate led into the Tudor and Stuart period rooms, while a modern glass vaulted roof lead down to the modern period. The visitors were lead by the hand and by the architectural metaphor to enjoy the transition from the primitive rural pre-London prehistory to the joys of modern London. It was a model of clarity. Non-stop development has obscured the clarity now as introductory displays, and a temporary exhibition space has interposed the Great Fire of London between the prehistoric and the Roman periods ....'
However, the museum still begins at the beginning with the Palaeolithic and ends in the early modern period (as the modern galleries are being refurbished).
Each gallery is basically chronological with thematic areas. The Museum has, in recent exhibitions, adopted a particular method, which is typified by the Prehistoric Gallery and was used in the World Gallery). This uses tall thin panels which give each section its overvie
w of the period or theme, large angled panels giving further details, and each case has long thin overvie
w panels with labels below the objects. Inside or near the objects are neat TFL Flat panels with short video sequences. Hands on activities are restricted to the ability to stroke some prehistoric objects. There are occasional large set piece panels and they are making a practice of creating some cases with displays with a high aesthetic value.
The prehistoric gallery, which has large set piece wooden display boards on one side, with archaeological plans carved out of wood. by contrast the other side of the room has large blue coloured vitrines full of objects discovered in the River Thames, with the objects seemingly floating down to the bottom of the river
Thames. A cynic might suggest the blue should be replaced by a murky brown!
A narrative innovation is the use of fictional texts displayed on the large wooden panels which read as if written by a native American or a shaman but actually, if I identify Jonathan Cotton's name correctly, are written by Museum of London archaeologists.
Most are quite evocative and are identified as pastiche by the date and name, although I would have preferred if the public were informed who they were, and they do seem to be tinted with rose water. The display includes small dioramas and a section of reconstructed wattle and daub wall. The route through most Museum of London galleries is fairly clear, the leave a little freedom of movement by the planned route is fairly clear if not compulsory.
The next gallery is out of sequence and has been put here to mop up school children studying the Great Fire as part of the National Curriculum. Again, it is laid out in the traditional abc structure. It has a booth for a fire experience narrated by 3 different contemporary witness (Pe
pys, Vincent and another). The design idea here is to make everything red!
The Roman Gallery is now the second oldest gallery in the Museum, and begins at 43AD and ends at 410 AD, with a broad chronological flow in between although the main organising principle is thematic - trade, transport, games, home life, religion etc. Readings from Seneca and other contemporary writers are broadcast near the Temple of Mithras displays. Largely the objects are left to talk for themselves but the museum also has invested in several very high quality models of Roman London and reconstruction drawings (1 of which I own!) They also have a large reconstruction of Roman living, dining and kitchen rooms using original objects where they exist.
The new Medieval Gallery has diverged a little from the methods previously described, although the same thin panels mark the transitions. The gallery opens with a very good map basic video sequence which tells the essential story so that the visitor can enjoy the objects. The exhibition is chronological, but being a large rectangular space the visitor could miss the chronological route around the exhibition. This route goes around the outside, anticlockwise, punctuate
d by these tall thin panels, however, much of the narrative is done thematically with sections on dining, plague, clothing, armour, Vikings etc. etc. The simple design template used in the Prehistoric Gallery is not used quite so regularl and the large variety of different sized cases, and labelling techniques makes the displays a little less soothing to walk around. There are many more hands on interactives of various styles, and another booth in which to enjoy the horrors of the plague.
The next and at present the last gallery is the Tudor and Stuart Gallery which is the only one of the designs to survive from the museum's opening in the 1970's. It is muc
h more book on the wall with vast reams of readable text, but is well laid out with well chosen objects and models.
I'm sure they will not be at present the Museum is an interesting case study in the evolving design of exhibitions, with the 1970's Tudor and Stewart Gallery, 80's Roman London gallery, turn of the century London before London, and the 2006/7 Medieval and Great Fire Galleries.
Museum of London
Previously, I have written: 'The Museum of London building opened in 1976,by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, was one of the first museums in Britain that was purpose built with the demands of museum narrative in mind. They designed the Museum with a single route way through the system – starting with the prehistoric gallery, which lead to the Roman Gallery, a dark passage led through the Dark Ages to the Medieval section. A Tudor gate led into the Tudor and Stuart period rooms, while a modern glass vaulted roof lead down to the modern period. The visitors were lead by the hand and by the architectural metaphor to enjoy the transition from the primitive rural pre-London prehistory to the joys of modern London. It was a model of clarity. Non-stop development has obscured the clarity now as introductory displays, and a temporary exhibition space has interposed the Great Fire of London between the prehistoric and the Roman periods ....'
However, the museum still begins at the beginning with the Palaeolithic and ends in the early modern period (as the modern galleries are being refurbished).
Each gallery is basically chronological with thematic areas. The Museum has, in recent exhibitions, adopted a particular method, which is typified by the Prehistoric Gallery and was used in the World Gallery). This uses tall thin panels which give each section its overvie
w of the period or theme, large angled panels giving further details, and each case has long thin overvie
w panels with labels below the objects. Inside or near the objects are neat TFL Flat panels with short video sequences. Hands on activities are restricted to the ability to stroke some prehistoric objects. There are occasional large set piece panels and they are making a practice of creating some cases with displays with a high aesthetic value.The prehistoric gallery, which has large set piece wooden display boards on one side, with archaeological plans carved out of wood. by contrast the other side of the room has large blue coloured vitrines full of objects discovered in the River Thames, with the objects seemingly floating down to the bottom of the river
Thames. A cynic might suggest the blue should be replaced by a murky brown!A narrative innovation is the use of fictional texts displayed on the large wooden panels which read as if written by a native American or a shaman but actually, if I identify Jonathan Cotton's name correctly, are written by Museum of London archaeologists.
Most are quite evocative and are identified as pastiche by the date and name, although I would have preferred if the public were informed who they were, and they do seem to be tinted with rose water. The display includes small dioramas and a section of reconstructed wattle and daub wall. The route through most Museum of London galleries is fairly clear, the leave a little freedom of movement by the planned route is fairly clear if not compulsory.
The next gallery is out of sequence and has been put here to mop up school children studying the Great Fire as part of the National Curriculum. Again, it is laid out in the traditional abc structure. It has a booth for a fire experience narrated by 3 different contemporary witness (Pe
pys, Vincent and another). The design idea here is to make everything red!The Roman Gallery is now the second oldest gallery in the Museum, and begins at 43AD and ends at 410 AD, with a broad chronological flow in between although the main organising principle is thematic - trade, transport, games, home life, religion etc. Readings from Seneca and other contemporary writers are broadcast near the Temple of Mithras displays. Largely the objects are left to talk for themselves but the museum also has invested in several very high quality models of Roman London and reconstruction drawings (1 of which I own!) They also have a large reconstruction of Roman living, dining and kitchen rooms using original objects where they exist.
The new Medieval Gallery has diverged a little from the methods previously described, although the same thin panels mark the transitions. The gallery opens with a very good map basic video sequence which tells the essential story so that the visitor can enjoy the objects. The exhibition is chronological, but being a large rectangular space the visitor could miss the chronological route around the exhibition. This route goes around the outside, anticlockwise, punctuate
d by these tall thin panels, however, much of the narrative is done thematically with sections on dining, plague, clothing, armour, Vikings etc. etc. The simple design template used in the Prehistoric Gallery is not used quite so regularl and the large variety of different sized cases, and labelling techniques makes the displays a little less soothing to walk around. There are many more hands on interactives of various styles, and another booth in which to enjoy the horrors of the plague.The next and at present the last gallery is the Tudor and Stuart Gallery which is the only one of the designs to survive from the museum's opening in the 1970's. It is muc
h more book on the wall with vast reams of readable text, but is well laid out with well chosen objects and models.I'm sure they will not be at present the Museum is an interesting case study in the evolving design of exhibitions, with the 1970's Tudor and Stewart Gallery, 80's Roman London gallery, turn of the century London before London, and the 2006/7 Medieval and Great Fire Galleries.
Museum of London
Comments
Is there any possibility to read more on this theme online? You have probably got another article concerning this matter.
And can I ask you to define "museum narrative"?
I need to understand what you mean by this term, because I am studying museological terminology (well, we are writing a terminological vocabulary and I am writing a thesis on terminology).
Best wishes,
Ann, Russia.