Dear Michal,
I'm sorry if my posts sounded like too much like an accusation - I understand the situation with funds, manpower etc.
I also understand that the fact that history departments tend to teach numismatics and ceramics but not "weapon's archeology" (judging by the number of books published in Poland things can be different there ?) together with all kind of probabilities (like a specialist in art trying to manage arms and armor department) contributes to the disasterous situation.
I also understand that collectors make mistakes constantly. In fact I strongly belive that for a lot of weapons more or less precise attribution is impossible. Concerning kindjals - I think there are may be two experts in the whole world who seriously studied them.
With all these, I probably should try to reiterate my original ideas:
1. Most of the arms and armor exhibitions use the "art museum" model - existing collection is arranged according to time periods, with no additional materials (photographs, explanations, models, maps etc.) displayed.
I think way more effective would be the "science and industry museum" model - limited number of items, accompinied by massive demonstrations and explanations.
2. I truly believe that items in small museums are nearly doomed - it's not only weapons, same things happens with painting etc. - extremely harsh storage requirements, multiplied by the cost of restoration, multiplied by the poverty of local museums leads to problems.
3. I have to be honest - I don't believe in that museums follow the public's taste, and above all are trying to maximize admission. Not so recently I've been to Chicago Art Institute. It had an exhibit of "installations" - on one wall it was basically a bunch of _empty_ frames, on another wall - a few photographs of water in some sort of pond I guess, taken 1s apart.
Now I know I come from the family of "realists"-artists, who believe that "modern art" is insanity, so I'm not the most objective person to talk about the issue, but empty frames caused me to collapse on the floor from laughter.
Same feelings are shared by the majority of "simple masses" attending these exhibits, but nevertheless the fashion trend of "post-modern art" does not die out, because the museum and art establishment is hellbent on supporting it.
May be it's a false impression (I'm really not the one to know), but arms and armor usually are not considered "cool" by the mainstream museum community.
4. Concerning collectors helping with the cnservation of museum's collections - I don't think it's really a workable solution:
a. There are very few collectors qualified to polish something (because there are very few collectors period).
b. What happens is a collector makes a mistake ? Should he be held responsible for the damage ? What are the standards imposed on "conservation" - do we "clean" the blades or we just remove the active rust ? Do we try to "conserve" japanese weapons (you know what the japanese community will think about this idea), or SEA mafia will stick to keris/dha, some other people to shamshirs etc. ? Very soon we arrive to the idea that there is one guy (or girl) who is qualified to work with the weapons of one particular class.
5. What I believe can be greatly benefitial is futhering (in most cases - creating) a cooperation in between of us as _united_ collectors-individuals and at least most important museums. First goal I would say is cataloging - photographing and describing collections in full, so we clearly know - what we have, in what condition. Then the questions - how it can be helped, and how it can be used (displayed) can be addressed.
Again I would point to the japanese collector community - not only it sponsors numerous exhibits and catalogues, it cooperates with major collections and museums when it comes to exhibition/preservation. They have similar problems, but in general they a little bit more sucsessful.
I understand there is going to be a lot of resistance, but if we are to try to do as individuals we are going to meet a very cold reception in most places.
Hope this writing makes some sence.
Sincerely yours,
K.Rivkin
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