On my senior trip to London, the tour guide gave us the option to choose a museum to go to on our own, and I chose the Victoria and Albert museum. \u00a0My experience at this museum was different from my experience at so many other art and design museums because of the diversity of art it had in its walls.<\/p>\n
The museum is divided into five categories: Exhibitions, Asia, Materials & Techniques, Europe, and Modern. \u00a0Within each of the five main categories, there is overlap between some of the subcategories. \u00a0For instance, in Materials and Techniques, there are multiple galleries dedicated to “Sculpture,” and a separate “Sculpture” subcategory under the European category. The division among the categories is different for each. \u00a0For instance, in Asia, the art is divided by religious ties or the region it was created in. \u00a0The Europe category’s division is a bit more complex, where it is divided by time period and region or art form, such as “Europe and America 1800-1900.” \u00a0I find this interesting in that it seems to highlight the art that would be considered important for the time.<\/p>\n
The Materials and Techniques category is my favorite. \u00a0Its subcategories are simple to understand: they were categorized by the art form they feature. \u00a0Beyond that, though, it highlights art that many other art museums never feature. \u00a0For instance, in the “Theater and Performance” there is a mix of media, including play posters, performance photography, and costumes, all presenting theater as an art form, and I’ve yet to see museums pay respect to theater in this way outside of an exhibition. \u00a0This category, Materials and Techniques, is the largest and most diverse, with seemingly no art form left unrepresented. \u00a0In highlighting so many art forms, it almost controls the way the visitor defines what is art and helps them see art in new ways. \u00a0For example, oftentimes people might not view a simple housedress as a piece of art, but in the fashion gallery, you can see these iconic pieces of clothing on display in the same way you would see any piece of art in a museum displayed, making the museum attendee see it as a work of art worthy of critique.<\/p>\n
I think the Materials and Techniques category is why I love the V&A Museum so much, so if I were to change the categorization, I would marry all of the regional differences under the Materials and Techniques subcategories and focus on appreciating the art forms themselves. \u00a0Then, within the galleries I would group them regionally so people could compare, say, the ceramics of the various regions of the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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