Exhibiting Dilemmas: Issues of Representation at the Smithsonian - Softcover

Henderson, Amy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1560984449 ISBN 13: 9781560984443

Publisher: Smithsonian Books, 1999

Synopsis

In twelve essays on such diverse Smithsonian Institution holdings as the Hope Diamond, the Wright Flyer, wooden Zuni carvings, and the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth lunch counter that became a symbol of the Civil Rights movement, Exhibiting Dilemmas explores a wide range of social, political, and ethical questions faced by museum curators in their roles as custodians of culture.

Focusing on the challenges posed by the transformation of exhibitions from object-driven “cabinets of curiosities” to idea-driven sources of education and entertainment, the contributors—all Smithsonian staff members—provide a lively and sometimes provocative discussion of the increasingly complex enterprise of acquiring and displaying objects in a museum setting.

About this title

About the Author

Amy Henderson, a cultural historian at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, is the author of On the Air: Pioneers of American Broadcasting and coauthor of Red, Hot, & Blue: A Smithsonian Salute to the American Musical.

Adrienne L. Kaeppler is curator of oceanic ethnology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and the author, most recently, of Oceanic Art.

Edition details

• Publisher: Smithsonian Books
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1560984449
• ISBN 13: 9781560984443
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292