Attendant's View Blog and Cartoons

That Tumblr thingy

13/3/2014

There are a few rather amusing things I follow, which are on Tumblr, so I've bitten the bullet and now have an account over there. Do find and follow me if you're a user of it, as you'll get my cartoons and other picks from the tumlr world.

http://attendants-view.tumblr.com/

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The Telegraph - A hotbed of museum opinion

12/3/2014

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I've recently stumbled over some articles on the Telegraph website, which are worthy of a read and likely to cause your eyebrows to shoot up for a variety of reasons.

Should children be banned from museums?

Parents allow their child to climb on a $10 million sculpture at Tate Modern, so Telegraph critic Ivan Hewett and Kids in Museums Director Dea Birkett pitched the case for banning children from museums against engaging them suitably.

Here're some points which struck me:

Ban kids under 12

"High culture is like any other product of the grown-up world... It’s inherently difficult, and so beyond the reach of children. To pretend otherwise, by encouraging kids to think of museum exhibits...as so many shiny toys...is just a form of lying."

"When they reach adolescence, these children won’t think of museums and galleries and theatres as enticing, mysterious places of adult pleasures and values. They’ll think of them (as) something adjusted to their needs when they were kids, and therefore to be left behind as quickly as possible, as they head towards adulthood."

Welcome Kids

"But it’s not really children that any of these finger-waggers want to ban. It's joy. ...there’s no passion at all for the great work in front of them. There’s just suppressed appreciation of a very academic, hollow-hearted kind."

"Should children really be allowed to ruin other visitors’ experience... Of course not. But the only reason they might do so is if they’re bored out of their brains."

"So rather than send them home, invite them in, and make sure there’s something to keep them busy. A simple copy of an artwork which they can reach out and touch will do, or a jigsaw of the portrait before them."

Following that article, was this:

Children in museums: it's the parents who need training

"I don’t think this is a limitation on creativity or expression. It is a moment when you learn that there is a code of behaviour to which you must adhere."

"Museums that have children’s areas and interactive displays are great for childish behaviour. But if we ask our kids to look at Van Gogh, or the British Museum’s cabinet displays, then we owe it to them to suggest ways in which they can enjoy such things without putting their needs ahead of those of others."

Where do your feelings lie?

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Know your competition

10/3/2014

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Heard in our main exhibition room - and scathingly delivered to indicate the sheer stupidity of daddy for even thinking to ask that question.

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Archaeology Company robbed + positive attitudes = awesome story

5/3/2014

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"Archaeologists channel spirit of Rastamouse as robber returns iPad to police in Liverpool"

My eye was caught by the above stunning headline while browsing Facebook, and the story itself is a wonderful one. My sources are here, and here and a little extra digging thanks to Big Heritage's Facebook page:

In Anfield, Big Heritage's vehicle was broken into, with the theft of genuine Roman pottery, replica artifacts, and an iPad
Valuable items were left... because they were under a replica bog body...
"They had lifted a lid and they must have ran off. The image of the bog body would give whoever saw it nightmares because it looks like a dead person.There was a head there too. Whoever broke in must have thought that they had found part of Dexter's kill list."
Archaeology company Big Heritage put out an appeal:
"If you were the person who robbed the stuff from our car, we reckon life must be pretty crap for you. Robbing stuff is a short term fix....but learning stuff is a real way out. So here's a deal.

Return what you can to us, and come work for us for two weeks as an archaeologist, and understand the importance of the history of where you live, the skills we use to learn about the past and the way to get from the crap circumstances you are in to a better place. We'll cover your travel costs and you can keep the iPad if you want. We'll support you to find a training/education provider and you'll understand why a few crap bits of pottery from the bag you half-inched are worth more than 10 iPads. Serious, genuine offer....and by the way, the body you found in the boot is a replica bog body (see the pic!), so you can sleep a bit better tonight!"
Stolen iPad is handed in at local police station.
The company is now hoping to trace the returner and offer them the work experience.
Dean Paton, Managing Director of Big Heritage, comments on their Facebook page that "yep, in the words of Rasta Mouse, we've turned a bad thing good!"
Rasta Mouse has now bigged up Big Heritage on Twitter.

This is possibly my favourite news story for some time, because it just gets better and better: Thief has the poo scared out of them (amusing) Victims have positive approach to forgiveness and rehabilitation, couched in great terms (heartwarming) National press picks up on it (yay, good use of media!) Thieves hand item in and may be traceable (wow, it worked?...) Victim quotes animated character, who in turn takes an interest (surreal, and amusing)

No idea who Rasta Mouse is? A crime solving mouse who believes in
"solving problems through mutual understanding, love and respect, and without resorting to punishment. Rastamouse's ethos is redemption and not retribution — "make a bad ting good" — helping wrong-doers to redeem themselves from their mistakes." Here he is tracking down some stolen art: