A Behind the Scenes Look at Marvels & Monsters

October 12, 2013October 12, 2013 Collections Management & Access Behind the Scenes, Collections, Exhibitions

What happens when a Museum changes exhibitions? Why is the area cordoned off so we can’t see what is going on inside? Common questions posed by National Museum visitors when they meet the Collections Management team and realize we are part of the select group that is behind the blacked out door during exhibition changes.

Here are a few images to help you glimpse behind the door!

(click to see the full images)

Exhibitions arrive in large wooden crates. We receive them, open and inventory them, and prepare them for the gallery.

Artifacts are unpacked carefully after they acclimate to the Museum. Collections Staff do detailed reports as to their condition and take photographs before they can be exhibited.

Artifacts are selected and installed carefully in the exhibition cases. Here, a Collections Staff member is installing a Li’l Neebo cartoon from America’s concentration camps.

Special mounts are created for individual artifacts before installation.

Every inch is measured and artifact secured

And staff never stop to take a break and mess around with the props…

Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986
October 12, 2013 – February 9, 2014
Through a selection of images from comic books representing four turbulent decades, Marvels & Monsters illustrates how evolving racial and cultural archetypes defined America’s perceptions of Asians.
For more information >>

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.