The national museum

I think it is fair to say that I know the National Museum better than other non-staff members. I've worked with people there for years, have spent time examining the collections, and recently submitted an article on the permanent exhibition. Today as I was looking through the new temporary exhibition, I noticed that the assertions I made in that paper are also valid for this exhibition. That paper is entitled "The Rhetorical Challenge of the Everyday Object" and it discusses how the museum builds an especially strong narrative about the Icelandic nation by emphasizing the everyday uses of objects. I can think of no U.S. museum with the same challenge as the National Museum of Iceland, to fulfill its state-given obligation to lift-up the national image without the collections (mostly of colonial excess) other national museums are privy to. Everytime I go there, I am so gratified to see the dignity and strength with which they overcome that challenge. I was especially happy today to overhear a tourist commenting to his companion, "This is a nice museum." Even though I know all the work that went into this museum, to tourists it really ought to seem effortless.

The Smithsonian has a bit more of a sledgehammer approach about it, but then I guess that suits us Americans. 

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