Event 4: Fowler Museum

Fowler Museum truly has a grand variety of exhibits. Like many traditional art and culture museums, there are a plethora of objects on display, but every exhibit seems to also include some kind of digital component to enhance and evolve the offerings. Of its current exhibits, I visited the following: “Enduring Splendor: Jewelry of India’s Thar Desert,” and “Popular Dance & Fashion in Johannesburg.”

Beginning with “Enduring Splendor,” I observed that there were many displays playing videos of the artisans crafting some of the very objects on display in the cases. This was a very interesting way to bring context to the items on display, aside from the traditional captions. There were also text descriptions next to the displays that I witnessed many people browsing, in addition to the screens. There were also slideshows being projected on some of the walls, providing additional options for utilizing otherwise empty space.

For the “Popular Dance and Fashion in Johannesburg” exhibit, there were many displays on the walls, featuring locals performing their dances, while simultaneously showing off the style that follows that particular Pantsula dance culture. Some of the displays had speakers below them, which leneded to the communication of the rhythm, from the sounds of the footsteps, to the whistling involved. Stone benches set in front of these displays also made for a more comfortable viewing experience. Along with some of the displays, there were also prints of select frames from the performances being shown, which offered insight into the steps and more in-depth exploration of the style.

This event relates to week one, where we talked about two cultures. For example, there were many displays connecting the culture of African Americans and dancing. I found this interesting as I have never seen these two connections before. Another connection was the combination of the culture and silvery. The different pieces made, whether jewelry or tea cups, created based off of the African culture. Visiting this museum was very insightful and I’m glad I did for this class, as I never would have even known about the museum.