Museumless

The name of this newsletter aside, many * museum-style exhibitions happen in places that … aren’t museums.

* most?

Regardless, all of the strategies we talk about here, and in the sister podcast to this newsletter, apply also to a whole list of other kinds of places.

Years back I did a whole lecture — called “Museumless” — at an industry event, about this odd fact. Recently, I was told that somehow, that lecture has become part of a current exhibition and experience design undergraduate curriculum.

Huh. Must have struck a nerve.

Anyway, you can make a list of “museumless” venues pretty quick if you think about it:

- Science centers
- Facility tours
- Libraries
- Corporate lobbies
- Zoos
- Aquariums
- Gardens and parks
- Historic sites
- Historic sites of conscience
- Visitor centers

Many consider science centers to be de facto museums. Yet they’re not “museums” by name, any more than the rest of this list.

Here’s the thing:

A lot of museum-style exhibitions are actually … museumless.

And if we can make exhibitions in all those places already, what other kinds of venues could we add to that list?

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day:
Sound bleed. When a sound source in one part of an exhibition can be heard unintentionally in another area, in a way that is distracting. In open galleries, sound bleed can be mitigated by minimizing loud sounds, using directional speakers, or incorporating acoustical treatments.