For the past few weeks now I have had the privilege of working with the curatorial staff here at the Rubin Museum of Art in designing our new Explore Area for Quentin Roosevelts China. To me I find it fascinating to handle artifacts and to arrange them in a way that will be educational for all who come to the museum. Between the thin piece of cloth that are my gloves and the artifact the connection becomes almost personal. It got me to thinking though, how can these objects play an important role in educating visitors?
Handling Artifacts
Coming across an article entitled Teaching Yourself to Teach With Objects by John Shuh, the author specifically states that object learning is one of the main components for a museum and the education of students from young to old.
For me though the article confirmed my fascination with artifacts when learning about a culture through objects. While pieces of art and historical artifacts are aesthetically beautiful, the underlying question is, what does this object tell you about the artists or society who has created it? As Mr. Shuh states “It is important to be able to see our world freshly and without baggage of old names and numbers, for these can insulate us from clearly seeing the fullness of the world which lies behind our abstractions.”
So as we attempt to answer our question it seems that the art of using our senses to not only look at the objects but to actually experience them is one aspect of object learning that makes the museum experience so fascinating. So whether the object is from from Northern India or New York City, they can play an important role in helping define what is great about those who made it.