Rome in the time of Trajan, #THELIGHTING
Oh boy, the lighting. But first, the exhibition was really good and I say that as someone who doesn’t wake up every day wondering how I can see more marble statues. Somehow all the objects seemed special and engrossing. It made me wonder if some people are just better at choosing what to put on display than others. Maybe it had to do with the curator being the archaeological curator of the city of Rome, or that many objects had never left Italy before so maybe we’re not used to seeing things of this calibre.
Then there was the display design which was inspired and slightly offbeat (orchid color scheme! upside-down arches!) but didn’t distract from the objects, which often is the case when designs are too designy and trying too hard to Make A Statement.
Finally, the lighting. A revelation. I don’t know what was going on but it was astonishing. I urge everyone who likes art or museums or architecture to go see it regardless of whether they’re interested in ancient Rome. It was soft and calm, yet clear at the same time. There wasn’t glare or awkward shadows but also there were enough shadows to bring out shapes and textures. You might be wondering how hard can it be to put up light bulbs that aren’t too bright or too dim but trust me, plenty of rooms in the Louvre and other great museums of Paris and Berlin are just not doing it right. You know where else I’ve seen this lighting, is in when you walk by an ultra-fancy store like Hermès and look in the window and think, how is that rich people even have their own rich-people air? I finally realized it had to be the lighting and then I read an article on how expensive restaurants in New York spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on special fixtures and bulbs and that you and I have never heard of that make the lighting just right.
“Picturing Independence” Bicentennial exhibition
The theme was artworks that address the topic of independence.
Peruvian textiles from the 18th and 19th centuries
I always wondered if they had those colored stripes in pre-industrial times. This was really exciting since I don’t think I’ve ever seen old indigenous American textiles in a museum and that’s something I’m always on the lookout for. Beadwork and animal skin materials, yes, but never fiber textiles, or hardly ever.
