This eBook is part of the TREeBOOK Gallery Collection. It was created in 2009 during the Master of Science at the University of Lugano inspired on an article by Professor Anna Lisa Tota. All rights reserved by the artists. Feel free to share this eBook. To contact TREeBOOK Gallery please write to bia@freeyourideas.net TREeBOOK Gallery is supported by Free Your Ideas. www.freeyourideas.net.

2. This eBook is part of the TREeBOOK Gallery Collection.
It was created in 2009 during the Master of Science at the University of
Lugano inspired on an article by Professor Anna Lisa Tota.
All rights reserved by the artists. Feel free to share this eBook.
To contact TREeBOOK Gallery please write to bia@freeyourideas.net
TREeBOOK Gallery is supported by Free Your Ideas.
www.freeyourideas.net.

5. The word exotic means
“from another part of the
world, foreign, unusual,
different, strange,
fantastic”. The word
fantastic means strange,
extravagant, bizzare,
unreal, wonderful,
remarkable...

7. “Exotic”
and other words
that clearly express
a point of view about
“theOther”
are frequently used by
museums to define
exhibitions.

9. But, you already know it,
“theOther” is just a
point of view!
In the same time,
for other museums,
“the exotic”
could be considered
pretty regular.

11. Differences are
just differences.
They are not
good or bad,
better or worse.
They are just
differences.

13. In museums,
“theOther”,
“the strange”,
“the foreign” is shown
because is through
knowing different
cultures that we can
understand our own.

15. We are just
one culture in a
world of possibilities,
ours is not by any
means the only one!

17. When museums forget
this simple rule
they move their role
in society from an
educational entity
towards a piece of the
entertainment industry.

19. The problem with the
entertainment
industry is the fact
that, sooner or later,
differences will
become a source of
easy profit.

21. Showing “the different”,
“the strange”, “theOther”
they obtain profit and
stimulate the cult of
“horror circus” where
things are shown just for
the pleasure of curiosity
and money.

23. So before tagging
something as exotic
museums must ask
themselves:

25. Exotic from which point
of view? How to tell this
from a neutral point of
view? Which points of
view were considered
and which were not?

27. Is this message
something expected from
a museum? Is the
museum giving a good
contribution to society
with this message? Is this
really exotic? For whom?

29. “Discovering
America” is a
meaningless history
for native people
who lived there
before the
Europeans.

31. For ancient Brazilian
natives on a tropical
beach, the “exotic
new world” came on
board those
Portuguese ships,
in 1500.

33. Brazilians are a mix of
three antropological
elements: native Indians,
Africans and Europeans
but Brazilian Museums
frequently reinforce
the dominant
“white man”
point of view.

35. We tend to assume
the museums
point of view as
“the truth” because
they have the
authority to talk
about history.

37. But history
belongs to people
not just to the
museums which have
the authority
to tell us about our
own culture.

39. Exhibitions are
exactly someone
else's interpretation
of a theme,
not necessarily
“the truth”.

41. For human brains
it is easier to assume
museums point of view
as “the truth” than
to construct it
by ourselves
because it requires
much more energy.

43. It's hard to have
an active behavior of
building our own
interpretation
about exhibitions
also because nobody
wants to challenge
museums authority.

45. Museums are
sui generis writers
because
telling us histories
through exhibitions
they become a kind of
“technology of the
human beings memory”.

47. When we remember a
fact and tell it to
someone, we tend to
modify it according our
perceptions.
This is called
“technology of the
memory”.

49. Good museums
and good exhibitions
must avoid to interpret
cultures and “theOther”
but stimulate visitors to
interpret the message
for themselves.

51. In this sense,
museums could be
considered as a (good)
school or a teacher who
stimulates her/his pupils
without influencing their
development of
knowledge.

53. Museums act
at the level of
memory formation
so because of them
people will remember
- or not -
something.

55. Because of them
people will remember
things and history
from many points of view
or under a miopic
and manipulated
point of view.

57. Museums must keep a
neutral point of view
but it is a hard work
because museums are
made of people and
people have feelings and
behave according
to them.

59. In order to achieve a
neutral position
museums can do
many things
all related to including
different points of view
in their
“putting on show”.

61. Behind a neutral
behavior, there is
certainly a clear mission
and a strategic plan
to remind staff
the reason to work there
and the role of the
museums in society.

63. The shift from
“treasure guardians”
to an “active-social-
educational actor”
is based on
the strategic need of
rethinking the museums
role in society.

65. Also the inclusion
of technology in
museums is part of
the process to bring
museums alive and
more friendly
to the citizen.

67. But we also observe
the movement to
transform museums
as part of the
entertainment
industry.

69. In this sense,
there is a risk to
manipulate history
and facts to produce
“news”
that could generate
audience.

71. Attention:
a museum is not a
“cabaret”
even if it could be
alive, funny,
friendly and full of
exhibitions!

73. But museums
must be careful to mix
“the show” to
“the history”
without manipulanting
the facts just to have a
successful
marketing case.

75. Museums exist because
there are different
people and cultures
to be represented
in the world.
Any other mission must
be secondary for
museums that want
to be alive.

77. Introducing hardwares
and softwares in
museums could convert
them into modern places
but just one thing could
really make the
difference between the
old and the
contemporary museums:

79. Just
people(ware)
could make
the difference in
museums.

81. The strategy of
museums must
include goals related
to ongoing staff
training alongside the
educational aspects
aimed at the visitor.

83. If people
(staff and visitors)
understand what exactly
is the role of the
museums in society
maybe an impartial
position could be
achieved by them.

86. Free Your Ideas
www.freeyourideas.net
Created and Produced by Bia Simonassi
Inspired on Anna Lisa Tota, Tiziano Terzani
and Emmanuel Levinas thinking
Revised by William Johnston
Images by Peggie Wolfe at Deviantart.com
Promoted by FreeYourIdeas.net
Find more at TreeBookGallery.blogspot.com
This eBook is part of the TREeBOOK Gallery Collection.
It was created in 2009 during the Master of Science at the University of
Lugano inspired on an article by Professor Anna Lisa Tota.
All rights reserved by the artists. Feel free to share this eBook.
To contact TREeBOOK Gallery please write to bia@freeyourideas.net
TREeBOOK Gallery is supported by Free Your Ideas.
www.freeyourideas.net.

87. De Luxe Edition
Bia Simonassi
Switzerland 2010