Museums of Influence

In this original and highly illustrated book Kenneth Hudson reviews the development of the world's museums over the past 200 years by identifying 37 pioneers in ten countries - from the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum in New York to the outdoor Sukuma Museum in Tanzania and the tiny, pre-fabricated Tacubaya Museum in the slums of Mexico City. The museums of the world vary enormously in style, size and approach. Yet amid this diversity, it is possible to identify a significantly small number that have influenced museum thinking and practice. The achievement of these pioneers is described against the background of their times and the often colourful personalities involved. Finally Kenneth Hudson attempts to assess present trends and to forecast what kinds of museum are likely to be Museums of Influence during the next twenty or thirty years. This book will appeal to all museum enthusiasts; archaeologists; historians; historians of art and science; industrial archaeologists and professionals working in or designing museums.

The Anacostia Museum, launched in 1967 in a black section of Washington, D.C., featured among its first exhibits a general store, a small zoo and demonstrations of silk-screening. Today it is a "museum without walls," vitally linked to the neighboring community. Anacostia is one of 37 museums identified by Hudson (The Good Museums Guide as being the most influential or pioneering. His guided tour of "museums of influence" is eclectic, surprising, sometimes controversial. The British Museum ("a huge department store") doesn't make the list, but we do find the Roman Palace Museum at Fishbourne, England, built around the excavation of a Roman harbor. Among American museums that Hudson deems up to par, the Museum of Modern Art promoted the idea of museum as community center, while Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry pioneered sponsorship by big corporations. The engaging illustrated text explores the museum's changing role as collector of antiquities, temple of art and cultural forum.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Hudson, who edits the International Directory of Museums and has written several selective guides to museums, here chooses 37 museums in ten countries which have pioneered in one aspect or another of museology. Each museum, in groups such as science, technology and industry, art, and history, receives several pages of informal discussion, outlining its distinctive and influential contributions. Only six museums are in America, and Hudson will certainly introduce some new museums to almost everyone. The text is engaging and aimed at a general audience, leaving the reader with a good sense of museum development in the past two centuries. Recommended. Jack Perry Brown, Art Institute of Chicago Libs.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.