from The Guardian
Shame on these sophisticated barbarians
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What makes a 'world class' city?
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from The New York Times
Rodin Show Visits Home of Artist’s Muses
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from The Straits Times
Is the museum too 'Disney'?
go to article (PDF)

Just catching up on various museum-related news and behold the sheer coincidence of commentary. Starting with Jonathan Jones' criticism of the tendency of museums to be geared towards the gimmicky - or the "experiential" - at the expense of the "collection", such that exhibitions are often conceived to titillate (intellectually) instead of being engaging. This is reflected in the growing trend of (art) museums being built outside of Europe and North America, all trying to out-emulate each other, prompting Claire Hsu to wonder:

"How [...] is the 19th century European museum becoming a default model for modern art museums in certain parts of Asia?"

And two instances closer to home to pin down the point that museums cannot afford to be uncritical about the intellectual impact that it carries, willingly or otherwise. One, the story in the New York Times on a very bad case of colonial hang-over - although the one good thing to come out of this episode may be a badly needed infrastructure refurbishment at the National Museum in Phnom Penh. The other, a poignant plead to reconsider the "theme-park" make-over of our very own National Museum - and pointing back to Jone's article to close our circular reference.