Museum as a Site of Negotiation. Mediating High and Low Culture

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Art - Installation / Action/Performance Art / Modern Art, grade: Distinction, Kingston University London (Kingston University London, in Partnership with the Design Museum, London, U.K.), course: MA Curating Contemporary Design, language: English, comment: "[T]his is a well research and well structured essay that demonstrates a sound knowledge of some of the key critical debates in both museum studies and cultural studies." ~ Maria Costantino , abstract: Between high and low culture, there was once a deep and wide gulf. The clear division was never a natural phenomenon, but rather a result of a cultural act. Throughout the history, the conflict in-between had taken a long way to resolve and the whole subject matter had caused marathon debates among modern cultural critics. Museums, as institutions once with absolute powers in its operation, had been forced to face a worldwide revolution. There were much more mixed emotions towards mass culture - questioning, inquiries, struggles, seduction and temptation at the same time - which constituted a push-and-pull situation. What were museums for? Was it a time for museums to reconsider their role and democratize themselves? What kind of resistance and temptation had museums encountered? To what extent would curators act as pioneers to eliminate the gap in-between taste diversity in art and design? These questions are worthwhile to take a look into. This essay aims to unveil the ways curators liberated themselves from a singular-voiced museum practice, which resulted in revolutions of curatorial models that incorporated multiple voices. Cases include: High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture (1990-91, MOMA), The People's Show (1990, Walsall Museum and Art Gallery) and Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 (2011, V&A).