Curating Pop: Exhibiting Popular Music in the Museum

Description

Curating Pop speaks to the rapidly growing interest in the study of popular music exhibitions, which has occurred alongside the increasing number of popular music museums in operation across the world. Focusing on curatorial practices and processes, this book draws on interviews with museum workers and curators from twenty museums globally, including the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, the Experience Music Project in Seattle and the PopMuseum in Prague. Through a consideration of the subjective experiences of curators involved in the exhibition of popular music in museums in a range of geographic locations, Curating Pop compares institutional practices internationally, illustrating the ways in which popular music history is presented to visitors in a wider sense. Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Illustrations Figures Table Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Curatorial Practice in Popular Music Museums: An Introduction Research fieldwork Structuring concepts for curatorial practice: A typology Chapter 2: Canonic Representations: The Celebration of Dominant (and Hidden) Histories Dominant stories and major events: Where to start in the telling of popular music’s history? Hidden histories of race and gender Revealing race Gendering popular music’s past Rock Chicks: An exhibition Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power Authorizing the canon Chapter 3: Selling the Museum Experience: Curation, Economies and Visitor Experience Understanding museum visitors: Demographics and strategy A number’s game Impacts of local and travelling museum visitors Intergenerational appeal What do visitors want? Creating the ‘right’ museum under budgetary pressures High risk, low return: Examples of unsustainable exhibitions National Centre for Popular Music, Sheffield Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex, New York City Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Macon Making ‘the numbers’ work Chapter 4: Popular Music and Place: Local, National and Global Stories Using ‘place’ to design exhibitions Collecting local histories Producing place and cultural pride Place and artistic legacies Situating place, incorporating nation Walk a Country Mile: Producing the place of Australian country music The overemphasis of place Chapter 5: Treating Objects like Art: Curating Material Culture The material objects of popular music’s past Traditional frameworks: Treating popular music’s material heritage as ‘art’ Case study: ‘Art’ in Israeli rock music Case study: ‘It’s all art’ in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Star objects: Capturing visitor attention The ‘noise’ of objects Chapter 6: Telling Stories: Narratives of Popular Music’s Past Moments in time: Chronology in popular music exhibitions Managing the narrative approach: Three core strategies Story-based approach Concept-based approach Object-based approach The challenge of narrative-led approaches to popular music exhibitions Visitors as amateur experts Telling tales, constructing meaning Chapter 7: Curator Subjectivity: Influence and Bias in Popular Music Exhibitions Popular music, identity and the work of the curator Managing bias: Keeping curatorial subjectivity in check Team-based approaches and multiple personal principles Reflecting upon and including visitors’ subjectivities in exhibitions Concluding thoughts Chapter 8: Living History: Nostalgia as Affective Curatorial Practice Nostalgia as affect Nostalgia as memory work Curating for nostalgic vibrancy at Museum RockArt Nostalgia and ‘itchy heritage’: The institutionalization of anti-establishment music Chapter 9: Managing the Music: Sound in the Popular Music Museum Does sound belong in the museum? A critical debate Curatorial approaches to sound within the museum space Curatorial responses to ‘sound bleed’ Sound booths Directional speakers Headphones Is sound really a problem? Chapter 10: Beyond the Typology: Concluding Thoughts Creating a typology of structuring concepts: Considerations The future of popular music heritage: Preserving traditions References Index