saying it out loud

My English teacher used to say to us, 'You don't know what you are thinking until you can say it'. Now, as someone who has a running (but silent) conversation with herself all the time, I was never too convinced. When I was at school it felt like my stream of consciousness was pretty clear and articulate to me. But I've since had reason to think she was right - and once again her theory came up trumps when I was talking to Simon and Phoebe about my visit to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow (above, with an afternoon sky full of snow).

The Kelvingrove has undergone a huge refurbishment since my last visit. Its wonderful, eclectic collection was displayed in a quite haphazard way, but as the rooms are large it was possible to wander round easily, get close up, stand back, enjoy the various collections, and make up your own mind.

Now, though, it's all been re-jigged and re-hung and as I looked around I could feel myself getting more and more infuriated with the hotchpotch approach, nearly backing into screens as I tried to get a better view of a painting, finding a Picasso and a Dufy at what felt like knee-height and behind a childrens' interactive game table, reading fatuous captions, being invited to type words into a thought-bubble superimposed on a classic Victorian painting on a computer screen, coming across the imposing portrait of Vita Sackville-West by William Strang in a corner as part of some simplistic compare and contrast themed room, discovering that the Scottish Colourists have been split into two sections when they used to all fill one gallery with brilliance and beauty, and fuming at signs such as 'where's it gone?'

I've read the museum's own explanation of the reorganisation and it's revealing that the target age group which stands out is 5-14 and, goodness me, it really feels like they are communicating with the lower end of that group. I know from taking Alice (14) to Tate Modern last week that she can cope with polysyllabic words and a little specialist art vocabulary and a smattering of pretension - and that she would feel patronised by captions such as this next to a stunning still life by Georges Braque: 'If GB was struggling with a complex painting, he would often paint still lifes to clear his mind. The bowl of fruit in his studio also provided a handy snack!'

It says a great deal that the museum had to bring in an external consultant to teach the gallery employees how to write simple, banal copy. I am shocked. In fact, I was so shocked that when I came home I suddenly started telling Simon and Phoebe the reasons why I didn't like what has been done at the Kelvingrove. And as I talked I realised I was putting into words all the inarticulate thoughts that has been swirling around in my brain during and since the visit. And by the end of my explanation I knew exactly what I was thinking. Miss Thomas was right. Again. (Even though she never let us discuss the sex scenes in The Rainbow by DH Lawrence.)

Comments

[Kathleen]

Thanks for "saying it out loud." I think that a lot of cultural institutions have been frightened into thinking that unless they make themselves into something appealing to five year olds that they will not survive. "Oooh, where's our future support going to come from when all our old geezer patrons pass on?" So, they engage in desperate marketing-driven revamping in which they try to compete with pre-school TV or YouTube. I think that any parent who brings a child to an art museum is capable of providing a suitable experience. "Handy snack, indeed." LOL.

Oh, Happy New Year, too.

Kathleen

[Juti]

I work for a museum in the US, as a curator, and let me tell you that there's a lot of pressure to dummy down our exhibitions. I could go on for days about this but don't want to hijack your comments.

While we (as curators and museum professionals) try to reach as wide an audience as we can, I still firmly believe that by raising the level of discourse in an exhibition we can raise the level of discourse in society. If you raise your expectations of understanding that you want from your audience, they will rise to it every time.

Oooh, I could go on. Email me, please, Jane, if you want to hear more but I completely understand if you don't.

Oh, and if you don't like what the Kelvingrove did, write to them and tell them. You have to let them know that they're alienating their audience and if they have any brains they'll respond.

[Luise]

What Juti said: do write to the Kelvingrove -- and anywhere else that might have either interest in or control of it. Regrettably, the dumbing down and homogenization of anything interesting are alive and sad in the U.S. Case in point: the SPNEA (Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities) in Boston is now called Historic New England, which I assume some marketer found more descriptive. We must speak up.

[Kathleen]

What an absolute disappointment! The visuality of an entire collection is so important. I do not understand the trend to treat our treasures like an MTV moment.

[fillyjonk]

That makes me sad. I get so tired of the dumbing-down of everything, of the thought that it has to be made to appeal to (apparently) a not-very-bright child in order to attract people to it.

I'm also irritated at the disrespect implied by "word ballooning" on a (granted, digital copy of, but still) painting. How would the original artist feel if he or she knew that their painting was basically used as a background for graffiti?

Please do write to them. I live in the U.S. and it's unlikely I'd ever get to England or to that particular museum, but I still like to see people taking a stand on things like these. (I've taken a few, but not very vocal and tending-to-back-down when someone more aggressive than I contradicts me).

[Victoria]

I am sorry that you were disappointed with the museum but I think you should be careful not to confuse your idea of dumbing down with another's idea of making it accessible. I have visited the museum several times both before and after its refurbishment and I think that for many people it is alot more inviting than it was previously. Use of simple language allows many people, including children, people with learning disabilities and those with reading difficulties, to learn about the paintings and other exhibits. If people are interested they can look into things further in their own time, or back in the classroom. I would rather this than an atmosphere that maintains a precious, elitist attitude to what is part of Glasgow's cultural heritage. I believe we all have a right to appreciate this. I hope you haven't discouraged others from visiting this wonderful building and collection.

[Ali]

There's a great gulf between elitism and dumbing down. It is possible to make things more accessible without total disregard for grammar or specialist vocabulary.

I have to say that on our last visit to Modern Art Oxford (with 7 and 3 year old), I was SO impressed at how they had managed to spark an interest in the works for children without in any way diminishing enjoyment for adults or scholars.

I have always believed that the true mark of a person in command of their subject is their ability to make it interesting for 'lay people' without reducing it's complexity to absurdity. The Royal Society Lectures are my favourite example of this. Brilliant.

Thanks for a thought provoking post.

[Mhairi]

My sister would agree with you entirely - she was frustrated she could not find certain paintings , and when she did, she found the positioning awkward. Having a 7 and 3 year old , my experience was rather different , the museum actually got them excited and interested in things they would not normally (at the Burrell Collection , another fine museum , all they wanted to see was the cafe! lol).
I also noticed that there were scores more visitors than I used to see before the refurbishment , including many more school groups.
Having visited and loved the museum since I was a child ( a good few years ago) , I was really keen for my children to like it , and to want to visit it again and again like I used to - and they do.
My sister - she still complains every time she visits , but she still goes. She has to , her nephews adore it! lol.

[Isla]

I think the re-hang of Kelvingrove has its problems, but I appreciate and enjoys the ideas behind the interpretation of the building and its objects. I also agree with two of the previous comments - the museum is a lot busier than it once was, and the visitors (in general) get more involved with the exhibits. You should certainly write to them to express your feelings, and possibly include a link to the comments of the post. Sometimes, I believe that museums forget that they can alienate their traditional audience when striving to include new ones.

[Katherine]

My 2 year old and 4 year old love "Grandma's Museum" as it's known to us, which says a lot about its target audience. Granted, it's difficult to obtain the balance between making a museum more accessible to an increasingly dumbed-down general public, and pleasing the more traditional audience - I think most museums are remarketing themselves as family brands (McMuseums?) rather than temples of academia. Certainly, it's a relief to have exhibits designed to interest young children - fortunately my two are too young to be able to read the more patronising aspects of the areas set-up on their behalf. There's a lot of intellectual dishonesty in claiming that a still life was also a handy snack (while also demeaning an entire genre of art; one I had never fully appreciated until seeing the wonderful National Gallery exhibition here in Bristol a couple of years ago.) Children don't need to be talked down to - they need to be inspired, and it's this inspiration that is sadly lacking in most of their current education/entertainment. The most inspiring sight at the Kelvingrove for me was the visit that coincided with the annual art competition for local schools - dozens of young people from different schools each sat, focussed on capturing the essence of the exhibit they'd chosen to draw, with an intensity and studiousness seldom seen on the average "school trip." Interestingly, most of them were to be found in the Natural History section, one of the more traditional areas of the museum...

[m]

the good news is that the elephant complete with bullet hole is still on display.., my parents were great and I saw tons of art, theatre and music which was not dumbed down when I was a child/teenager. Infact what I really appreciate is that they showed me the best of everthing whether Japanese theatre, italian primative paintings or Royal Scottish Orchestra doing a symphony.

[paula luckhurst]

"as someone who has a running (but silent) conversation with herself all the time".
yes, I do the same.

[Misty the Kneedler]

I work in a modern/contemporary art museum in the US and there is a constant struggle with the issue of interpretive materials, such as wall labels, brochures, signage, etc. The public wants more information and context for the artworks, while the curators want to preserve the minimalist "white box" gallery with few or no wall labels, much less anything resembling a brochure. It speaks to the question of who is the museum actually for - the general public, or the critics and curators? Personally I am so tired of and unstimulated by the minimalist approach that I was thrilled when we recently had an exhibition in which the walls were actually painted a colour instead of white(gasp!)

[Marianne]

Oh, I see you are reading a Dorothy Sayers novel. I have been wondering for a long time what you think about them, as they are among my favorites. Not English myself, but obsessively fond of Englishness, I love the way they portray this strange character. And I love her style, her sentences and the way she always introduces me to new words. I keep coming back to them, and they are always better than I remember. Not museum related, but I jumped when I saw it, and couldn't sit still.

[jayne]

I share your frustration. The best museums have their normal exhibits/ commentary with a 'family' or 'kids' trail' option for the tiddly - winks where they are given a taped commentary or printed 'worksheet' (ouch, bad term!). My children are of a very similar age to yours and wouldn't appreciate this sort of treatment.

I'm more in the music/ literature domain, art being my most deficient bow string of the three! Whilst I am evangelical in my desire for music to be accessible, appreciated and loved by all, and am angered by those who sneer at Classic FM because they feel symphonies should only ever be played in their entirety etc, there is a fine line between achieving that aim and completely dumbing down. Presumably the people who are employed by museums/ galleries/ orchestras etc are professionals who should be able to get this sort of balance right.
I agree with Katherine above: 'children don't need to be talked down to: they need to be inspired'. I taught for twelve years and I have children of my own so I know that to be true.

A different type of museum but possibly the most memorable to my kids (14 last Saturday and 12) are two in New York: the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration and The Tennement Museum. They get it right without dumbing down. In short, they inspire. Maybe the Brockets have already visited, but if not we would highly recommend!

[Elizabeth]

I'm a voluntary guide at our local Art Gallery. Many visitors comment that they can't understand contemporary art without some explanation, and ask why the wall texts for these works are so minimal. Actually they are minimal for all the works in the Gallery, but much more explanation is needed for most contemporary art than say for 19th century narrative paintings. Many people just walk straight past the contemporary art as a result of this lack of descriptive texts.

[Alison]

Is it a result of lack of cultural influence. Or is it extremism. I too am shocked that school age children (and as a result adults and all patrons alike) are dumbed down in an art gallery. Given them a banal statement, and they wont look beyond that. I am saddened. And I fear in 20 years time we will have some very angry young artists rebelling.

But then, isn't that how art has evolved over centuries?

[and as an aside, the Queensland Gallery Of Modern Art I worked on has an excellent children's art programme about involvement, creation, thought, and interaction with thought process and art which is amazing - it can be done, and having watched children over the course of a year be part of it all, works on all levels]

[Jen]

I fully intented to see this:

http://www.hitentertainment.com/barney/flash_mx/sites/player.asp

when you linked the source of the external consultant. Pity.

Although it may have saved them ample time and monies to simply throw an intern into a costume and give scheduled tours, if their aim is truly to attract more youthful patrons.

[Amy in Vermont]

Children don't generally enter museums unattended. I believe that a museum should provide adult-level information. Adult visitors can then determine how best to inform the children in their care. The personal transfer of information is so valuable in nurturing a love of the arts. It's a shame to think that we expect such over-worked and underfunded institutions as museums to adopt the duty and privilege of educating the next generation. What's next... theatres posting messages on giant screens during a play? ("Hamlet is scared of that ghost! Silly Hamlet!")

And oh! How painful to read of the treatment of the Vita S-W portrait!

[Novembrance]

Oh, no. It sounds as if they've made a dreadful mess of things. I hope the pendulum swings back the other way and someone in charge sees reason.

[Puplet]

Grab those thoughts, go back, and then put them in the speech bubble!

[Miranda]

I was very sad to read your entry, I feel that the Kelvingrove is fascinating and has done a wonderful job of attracting non-traditional museum-goers (and their children!) whilst retaining many of the items and exhibits that one expects to see. It is a vibrant, stimulating museum that appeals on many levels and I hope you get the opportunity to visit again and maybe take one of their tours so that you can discuss your thoughts with a museum guide.

[Rebecca]

Oh dear! I have laughed out loud at the shocking caption but my laughter is quickly displaced by alarm. Surely children do not normally visit art galleries without an adult who can help interpret captions where necessary! Why must we all be subjected to dumbed down English these days? Is this some sort of terrible side affect of the news that our education system is achieving less and less, will dumbed down language be all the forthcoming generations will ever be able to cope with? How scary!

[françoise]

This is just one more aspect of the general dumbing down of so much of our information. To me it is on the same par as the "abbreviated /simplified classics" which infuriate me.

As a parent and grandparent I found that it is immensely interesting to ask children to look carefully and select one painting they like and one they don't in any given gallery and LISTEN to their responses without judging them. I think many museum curators would then realize that no oversimplification is necessary. Young eyes and minds have a vision of their own which is in no way inferior to that of adults. And you are welcome to add my comments to your letter to the curators if you wish.

[Georgia]

I have little to say on this that hasn't already been said. But what a fascinating response to your view. While my first response was in total support of your words, it is interesting to read that there are others who have found the museums changes to be wholly positive. Now I really feel like I'd love to see it for myself. But what I will say is that your teacher was so right. I love that little phrase. Thanks for another thought provoking post.