Back on Track in Richmond with...Mocha Dick and Confederate Industrial Ruins

Ok, getting Museum at Work back on track from de facto summer hiatus. After about a million different plans for first week of August, I ended up visiting my charming brother in DC, who was accommodating and delighftul enough to drive me all the way to Richmond to see this fantastic, totally rad installation at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Presenting...Tristan Lowe's Mocha Dick:

Tristin Lowe’s colossal sculpture Mocha Dick is a fifty-two-feet-long recreation of the real-life albino sperm whale that terrorized early 19th-century whaling vessels near Mocha Island in the South Pacific. Mocha Dick, described in appearance as “white as wool,” engaged in battle with numerous whaling expeditions and inspired Herman Melville’s epic Moby-Dick (1851). Lowe worked with the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia to make the sculpture: a large-scale vinyl inflatable understructure sheathed in white industrial felt.


 Unbelievable. Naturally, I HAD TO GO. IT WAS SUPER WORTH IT.

I think this is a brilliant and effective museum touch:

Next up, the National Park Service Civil War Visitor Center at the site of the Tredegar Iron Works. In search of my National Park Passport stamp, I admit that I had no idea we were stumbling into the remains of the Confederacy's main iron works. Pretty creepy. I also admit that we skipped the private museum, had a lovely chat with an NPS volunteer, and then poked around the industrial remains. In addition to a partially intact waterpower system, most of the remaining infrastructure was post-Civil War era manufacturing equipment, and the Park Service has displayed a number of turbine pieces outside so visitors can explore the 19th century technology up close and personal, including:

• touching
• smelling
• peering
• taking stupid pictures
• climbing
• "whoa"-ing

All of which provided this loudmouth anti-Confederate Northerner an opportunity to make some interesting intellectual and emotional connections with this unusual site. And take a couple dumb pictures. 

My brother could have made some good connections too if he hadn't had to say, "Em, the park rangers are going to yell at us" every fifteen seconds. That no-touch stigma is hard to shake.

Steampunk + Industrial History Museums =...Duh?!

Ok, article from Boston.com like a week ago: Citywide steampunk festival pays homage to Waltham's history

Did you know that International Steampunk City is the "secret identity" of Waltham, MA? Me neither! Anyway, May 6-8 the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation -- and the entire city of Waltham, apparently -- will be hosting a huge steampunk event.

Talk about getting experimental with industrial history! Awesome opportunity to delve into the aethetics of Victorian-era industry in new and imaginative ways, or catering to a very specialized subculture? Either way it seems like a pretty natural match. I'm super curious to see how this plays out for the CRMII, and psyched to venture down there in May...

Industriemuseum!

Really interesting post a couple days ago on The Uncataloged Museum about industrial heritage development in Europe: From Cotton to Culture: Changing the Face and Future of European Cities.

In said post I learned there's this amazing thing called the European Route of Industrial Heritage, a partnership among EU member states, industrial heritage museums, and academic institutions. The idea is to promote tourism that links diverse industrial sites by theme or region. Do the mining tour of Europe! Backpacks, anyone?

Seriously, I think this is a pretty exciting way to push industrial history toward greater relevance for visitors -- the ERIH situates what can often feel like very local history in an interconnected network of regional and international sites. If visitors (most of whom are probably nerds, obviously unlike myself...) are accessing these resources, there's potential here for engaging people with the interrelated historical experiences of work, and a deeper understanding of how the industrial past shapes the present.

Also, check out the photo gallery. These museums look like they run the gamut from traditional interpretive displays to huge, raw, tour-able factory sites.


Kinder im Museum. Also ein interessanter Museumsbesuch für "groß und klein"und nicht nur für Fachleute! Industriemuseum Brandenburg an der Havel.

The museum looks like it's basically a huge, partially operable steel mill. I love that these kids get to just hang out with rusty gears and apparently still-fiery blast furnaces. Hardhats!



Industriemuseum Brandenburg and der Havel.