Monday, 2 March 2015

Gnomic Aphorisms and other Garden Sculptures

According to T.S. Eliot April is the cruelest month, mixing memory and desire - cruel indeed. But what does that make March? In the museum world March is the hectic pre-season preparation time. If T.S. Eliot's Wasteland was about museums it might have begun thus

April is the cruelest month breeding
Visitors out the dead March, mixing 
Fear and anticipation, stirring
Dull dull roots with spring events


So Easter is imminent and the great British public will soon be flooding through our doors in their tens. This means, although I'm fooling myself everything is copacetic, I don't actually have time to nurture a new blog from my great intellect. Instead I thought I would share my various gnomic thoughts and aphorisms that regularly clogs up my twitter feed. Great wisdom can be found here, feel free to let them inspire you to greatness.


The museum world as we've created it is a process of our thinking. It can’t be changed without changing our thinking


A mediocre museum tells. A good museum explains. A superior museum demonstrates. A great museum inspires others to see for themselves.


There is no such thing as dull exhibition subjects, just dull exhibitions


The art of a great interpretation panel? Write as little as possible but make it seem as much as possible


The best and most successful museum exhibitions cannot only be seen and touched - they must be felt with the heart.


Museums should be to the mind what exercise is to the body


Nothing ever invented provides such sustenance, such infinite reward for time spent, as a great museum exhibition



The museum world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow


Museum success isn't based on the ability to change. It's the ability to change faster than the competition & visitors


Closing museums gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.




A bounteous and fruitful 2015 visitor season to all my museum readers



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