Response: A Reality Show Comes to Museum Practices

The role of museums, whether small or large, is very important to the community that they provide services to. They are in charge of the world’s cultural property and they interpret it to the public. These museums are part of the world’s natural or cultural heritage whose cultural property provides primary evidence in disciplines such as archaeology and the natural sciences. Museums represent an important contribution of knowledge and are an essential component in defining cultural identity, nationality and internationality. The Jaketown project of the Poverty Point culture can contribute to the community of Louisiana, but first certain steps must be taken before planning the exhibitions of the artifacts that will be acquired by loans from private collectors.

Before Dr. Connolly should help to organize the exhibition, displays, exhibit labels, documentation of archive materials and a production of an introductory video, he must make sure that Mr. Turner has followed the proper guidelines in beginning a museum. Mr. Turner needs to make sure that this museum is what the community of Belzoni needs and will be productive for the city and its people. A new museum needs a home, collections, income and activities that will benefit the community. It is also a necessity that he finds collectors, experts and specialists in the community and secures their cooperation in beginning the museum collections. He should provide a written, published public document which accords with national laws and clearly states the standing of the institution, its legal status and mission statement as well as its non-profit nature. The mission statement should publicize the objective and policy statement of the new museum before beginning the acquisition of collections.

Once he has established these guidelines, then he must confirm that the new museum has an acquisitions policy that addresses the care and preservation of the objects that they will acquire by purchase, gift, loan, bequest or exchange. The collections should have proper ownership documentation along with a full history of the item from discovery to production and must be relevant to their mission statement. He should require proper care of biologically or culturally sensitive material, such as the jasper owls and effigy beads, and ensure that they can be properly cared for and stored safely with protection from the nine agents of deterioration.

After these steps have been fulfilled, Dr. Connolly can assist in exhibition planning. Before beginning this process, it is important that the “whole design” of the exhibition is planned and this design focuses on what Mr. Turner wants to achieve with the exhibition. When producing graphics for museum displays it is important to ensure that the display communicates the context of history, memory, identity or scientific knowledge to a person or group of persons. This is why it is important to get expert museum advice and competent museum workers to help communicate the objects history and meaning. Mr. Turner most likely asked for Dr. Connelly’s advice because of his eight years of experience as Station Archaeologist at the Poverty Point site. Also important in the interpretation of museum exhibitions is the exhibit label wording. This wording is just another step in defining the objects in the exhibition and communicating their cultural significance through the aid of graphics and written information in the form of text panels, captions and individual exhibit labels.

In addition to this, documentation of all the artifacts is an essential resource for collections management, research and public services. Any objects acquired for the museum by Mr. Turner needs full identification, description, its associations, provenience, condition, treatment, present locations as well as photographic documentation. The production of the introductory video that Dr. Connelly agreed to assist in should utilize all the information from the excavation reports and articles that he discovered on other Poverty Point exhibitions. This information should communicate the message of the exhibition in a clear and precise visual and written language that is easy to understand at any level or levels of public interpretation. This video will aid in public outreach that aims to educate people in the community of Belzoni about their cultural heritage.

These are but a few deliberations that need to be addressed when planning a new museum and exhibition of culturally significant artifacts to a community.