Museum Archipelago
A tiny show guiding you through the rocky landscape of museums
About the show
A tiny show guiding you through the rocky landscape of museums. Museum Archipelago believes that no museum is an island and that museums are not neutral.
Taking a broad definition of museums, host Ian Elsner brings you to different museum spaces around the world, dives deep into institutional problems, and introduces you to the people working to fix them. Each episode is never longer than 15 minutes, so let’s get started.
Episodes
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49. Deyana Kostova Centers ‘The Little Man’ in War at the Bulgarian National Museum of Military History
September 3rd, 2018 | 10 mins 13 secs
bulgaria, bulgarian national museum of military history, deyana kostova
The campus of the Bulgarian National Museum of Military History in Sofia is defended on all sides by a garden of missiles and tanks. But as Director of Public relations Deyana Kostova points out, many of the exhibits inside focus on the consequences of war rather than the tools of warfare.
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48. Museums Are Really Sensitive To Critique. Palace Shaw & Ariana Lee Decided They Don’t Care.
August 20th, 2018 | 12 mins 3 secs
ariana lee, palace shaw
Ariana Lee and Palace Shaw create The Whitest Cube, an excellent new museum podcast about people of color and their experiences with art institutions as artists, visitors, workers, activists, or casual admirers. The podcast interrogates the city of Boston and its cultural institutions through the lens of race.
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47. Buzludzha is Deteriorating. Dora Ivanova Wants To Turn It Into A Museum.
July 23rd, 2018 | 9 mins 59 secs
bulgaria, buzludzha, dora ivanova
High in the Bulgarian mountains, Buzludzha monument is deteriorating.
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46. Vessela Gercheva Directs Playful Exhibits at Bulgaria’s First Children’s Museum
July 9th, 2018 | 10 mins 1 sec
bulgaria, muzeiko, vessela gercheva
There were no children’s museums in the Balkans before Muzeiko opened in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2015.
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45. Margaret Middleton Designs Museum Exhibits for All Ages
June 25th, 2018 | 11 mins 6 secs
margaret middleton
Margaret Middleton is an independent exhibit designer and museum consultant based in Providence, RI, USA.
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44. Vassil Makarinov Presents Technology and History at the Bulgarian Polytechnical Museum
June 11th, 2018 | 11 mins 27 secs
bulgaria, bulgarian national polytechnical museum, vassil makarinov
The Bulgarian National Polytechnical Museum is a science museum that also tells the story of Bulgarian and world history.
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43. Blake Bradford Aims To Increase Number of Black Museum Professionals with Lincoln University Program
May 28th, 2018 | 11 mins 36 secs
bill bradberry, blake bradford
In episode 36 of this podcast, Bill Bradberry, Chair of the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Area Commission, described encountering the glaring lack of cultural diversity within and around the museum industry, particularly in leadership.
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42. Freddi Williams Evans and Luther Gray Are Erecting Historic Markers on the Slave Trade in New Orleans
May 14th, 2018 | 13 mins 16 secs
freddi williams evans, luther gray
Until a few weeks ago, one of the only places in downtown New Orleans acknowledging the city’s slave-trading past was a marker in Congo Square, erected in 1997.
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41. 16,000 Years at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter with David Scofield
April 30th, 2018 | 9 mins 43 secs
senator john heinz history center
As the oldest site of human habitation in North America, the Meadowcroft Rockshelter has a challenge: how to convey its mind-boggling timescale, spanning from prehistory to the 19th century?
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40. Conserving Digital Photos with Jenny Mathiasson and Kloe Rumsey
April 16th, 2018 | 9 mins 58 secs
Jenny Mathiasson and Kloe Rumsey started The C Word: The Conservators’ Podcast to broadcast their friendly and professional discussions about conservation.
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39. Hans Sloane and the Origins of the British Museum with James Delbourgo
April 2nd, 2018 | 12 mins 33 secs
british museum, james delbourgo
Over the course of his long life, Hans Sloane collected tens of thousands of items which became the basis for what is today the British Museum.
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38. Conservation in the 21st Century with Sanchita Balachandran
March 19th, 2018 | 13 mins 35 secs
sanchita balachandran
Sanchita Balachandran, Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum, hopes to see the field of conservation develop into more of a social process, rather than simply a technical one.