If you are a member of the Sacramento Anthropological Society, our student club, and you follow the SAS Facebook page, you'll already know that I am a big (BIG) fan of Emily Graslie, whose vlog series The Brain Scoop is shot on location in the Field Museum in Chicago (a fabulous, old and favorite museum of mine). I wanted to share this particular video with you because I think it will help you to appreciate the kind of sensibility it takes to work in and dedicate one's life to a museum and collection, and to see that "museum people" come to this professional milieu, almost like a "vocation" or "calling," from all kinds of educational backgrounds and majors. Watch to the end to learn how Emily found her way to the museum world.
Welcome to blog central for ANTH 177 (Spring 2014). Students in this course maintain individual blogs in order to record their weekly lab hours and summaries, journal their brilliant thoughts about our readings, discuss our exhibit and inventory project, and generate discussion about museum-related issues, events or opportunities. This is a nuts and bolts course that complements ANTH 176: Museums, Culture & Society (an introduction to the scholarly field of museum anthropology).
oh man, her frustration about the (lack of) care of the collection is palpable. I can so relate...and I'm new to the the museum scene! I've seen a few of her vlogs, but this one speaks so plainly to the commitment (I'd even say the love) that goes into being a curator. Leaving a collection is like leaving a bit of yourself behind.
ReplyDeleteAlso, every curator must have a favorite pair of tweezers! I hide mine so no one else can use them!
I'd say love, too.
ReplyDelete