Essay on "Museum the Artifact"

Quoted Instructions for "Museum the Artifact" Assignment:

Visit a virtual museum tour (see Virtual Museum Choices below), then, conduct further research after choosing one or more Artifacts from the Virtual Museum Tour to write about using outline below. Virtual Museum Choices The Louvre - Paris, France: http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/visite_virtuelle.jsp?bmLocale=en

The British Museum - London http://www.britishmuseum.org/

National Gallery of Art – Washington, DC http://www.nga.gov/

State Hermitage Museum – Petersburg, Russia http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en

Egyptian Museum – Cairo, Egypt http://www.sca-egypt.org/eng/MUS_Egyptian_Museum.htm

Acropolis Museum – Athens, Greece (via Google art project site) http://www.googleartproject.com/collection/acropolis-museum/

National Museum of Anthropology-Mexico City http://www.mna.inah.gob.mx/ (need to translate to English)

Smithsonian Institute – Washington, DC http://www.si.edu/

Asian Civilizations Museum – Singapore http://www.acm.org.sg/home/home.asp

Choosing your museum artifact: Make your choice so that you know you can find enough information on this artifact and within the culture that the artifact was produced. If you choose an artifact from the museum that has very little information available from research sources, then you will have to make inferences by comparing this artifact to the general characteristics of a category that fits this artifact...for example "Tribal Masks from the Ivory Coast " or " Paintings from the Chinese Song Dynasty." If you have difficulty knowing where to locate information, look for a "contact us" link to ask questions about the museum's collection of artifact or other related questions.

Conducting Research: Research your topic using at least two scholarly sources with a focus on sources related to developing an understanding of the background of the artisan or group responsible for making one or more artifacts from your chosen museum. Wikipedia is NOT a scholarly source. Prepare a list of guiding questions which will help to prepare you for the museum visit and keep you focused as you view the museum galleries and collections and lastly, the artifact(s) of your choice. (You will need to take notes about your artifact based on information found in the outline below.) Be sure to note the location and collection of your chosen museum, the artisan or group responsible for the creation of your chosen museum artifact, historical period when this artifact was created, materials used, cultural significance, etc.) Reflecting and Writing on the Experience: These headings and information under each heading are required to construct your paper:

Headings: Museum Introduction Artifact(s) Description Interpretation Conclusion Bibliography

Include the information under each of the headings:

Museum Introduction: First, tell us the name and location of the museum, the collection of the museum, galleries (rooms, and historical facts about the museum. If this is a virtual museum tour, explore the “collection” link to describe the galleries. Then, explain your own experience during the visit and rationale for the choice of one artifact from this museum.

Artifact(s) Description: Here is the information that should be covered under the “Artifact Description" heading. Be sure to write in essay form...do not list the information: Name or title of the artifact; Is this artifact a part of the museum's "permanent" collection or is it on loan from a private collection? Is this artifact in a gallery (room) with other artifacts that are grouped because of similarities to a culture or in a specific category? What is the gallery name? Historical period that this artifact was created; Who or what group of people is responsible for making this artifact Location of where this artifact was found and where is it located today Function or purpose of this artifact; for example, was it used as a tool, to record an event or tell a story or myth? Materials used in creating this artifact; Size or dimensions of the artifact Design details for this artifact should also be included such as: Subject Matter: What are recognizable images on this artifact? Is it a figure or made of recognizable figures or animals. Where is the recognizable imagery located on the artifact? Shapes or forms; use of color, texture. If the artifact is applied to a surface, also, include how the space is divided into foreground, background; use of pattern or other embellishment on the surface of the artifact.

Interpretation: Is there a theme such as mythology, spiritual art, a theme of everyday record, heroism, etc? Does this artifact have a political, cultural, or social message according to what you have researched about the artifact? (For example, does an ancient artifact have any ritual significance?

Conclusion: Share your own insights about how this experience reflects important ideas you have discovered and also, ideas that you can relate to this semester’s activities in this course.

Bibliography: Citations let the reader know from where you retrieved different bits of information in your paper in case the reader wanted to research further. Use parenthetical citations even though all information is written in your own words. The paper must be in your own words, and it will be run it through www.turnitin.com if the “voice” of the writing is not your own. Wikipedia is not allowed.