the stray thread - museums as terrific online resources

museums as terrific online resources

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personal fav's in the tool box the stray thread

Volunteering for the Arab Modern Art Museum in Doha, which wasn’t much more than a couple of villas storing over 6000 works of art, reminded me what a precious resource museums can be. I tend be a critic of white, sanctioned art spaces but I also value them as they serve as more than just glorified display areas. They catalogue, archive, collect, curate, cultivate histories of ideas and epistemologies (which can also draw out my criticism).

The most interesting part of the volunteer stint was that I was witnessing the inception of a museum, a rather rare phenomenon. My job description included registering newly acquired pieces, finding mis- and un-registered artwork and a whole lot of data entry. I reveled in having intimate access and exposure to threads of history and culture that were new to me as a Westerner.

Although I moved from Qatar to the UAE I still crave the experience and the wealth of resources that museums offer. As we are kinda short on art and design museums in the Gulf at the moment I try to hit up as many as possible when I travel. Some of my favorites include the Pompidou in Paris, The Victoria & Albert in London, The Met in NYC, the La Triennale di Milano Design Museum and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. However, when I am home in Dubai and I am hankering for inspiration or information I tap the tool box. This is list of my personal favorites.