FHXB Museum: The Liberal Arts in the Museum

   It is very surprising how much  both my academic and extra-curricular activities have come into play with my experience in the museum. In my study of history, it never really occurred to me to think about the presentation of the material beyond the arguments on a certain page. In a museum, not only is it important to talk about the historical arguments but about presenting them in a palatable way to reach a wide audience. Throughout my work, I have found myself arguing constantly between this difference between accurate portrayal versus image-conscious portrayal and these ideas can sometime be contradictory. For example, how does one portray the story of refugees coming to Kreuzberg? This question could be answered simply through getting input from historians and analyzing social forces. However, presenting refugees in Kreuzberg as a compelling and personal story (with interviews and personal anecdotes) makes the story more accessible to the public.

Although museums have to deal intellectually with how they portray concepts, there is the hanging doubt about how to present this information and artifacts in an inexpensive format. Budgets, marketing and advertising can make and break a museum. In this way, my extra-curricular experiences serving in LSA Student Government have really come into play. Working with multiple organizations, contacting and persuading people to advertise events and constantly researching is something small organizations need and a museum is no exception. In a way, researching for soup containers can be related to the liberal arts as one needs to understand language in order to find the appropriate container. For example,a Suppentopf (pot) is very different from a Thermobehaelter (thermos) but knowing the nuances of a language can help you find perhaps the appropriate (Suppewarmhalter) soup container.

Iftar Event: Anyways, this week was huge because we put on the Iftar event. As soon as I got in Thursday morning, I was helping to set up the event. I was put on the construction, soup and buffet teams and I got to help throughout the event. It was extremely successful and we got 600 people who came for the food and to celebrate the beginning of Ramadan. The food was delicious and all of the weeks of planning and doing laborious tasks finally paid off.

Here are some photos from the event.