From paranoia to playing safe

Tiffany Jenkins — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:00:00 GMT

Observations on America

In its first major design show in its new home, New York's Museum of Modern Art will exhibit products that deal with danger, from genocide to the paper cut. Starting next month, "Safe: design takes on risk" will show prototypes by creatives that deal with the perceived perils of modern living, including refugee shelters and alarms.

The aim, the curator Paola Antonelli says, "is to address the spectrum of human [...]

The censoring of our museums

Tiffany Jenkins — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 12:00:00 GMT

Certain artefacts in the British Museum are deemed to have such religious significance that the director himself cannot examine them, and Australian male totems are barred from female eyes at the Hancock Museum in Newcastle. Faith sensitivity is endangering free access to our collections, argues Tiffany Jenkins

Objects of religious significance are being removed from museum cases across the United States and the United Kingdom. Artefacts are being hidden away - in effect placed in deep-freeze. Public access, research possibilities and academic freedom are being curtailed and closed down. In the US, at the new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, material is removed and segregated if the objects are sacred or have ceremonial status. [...]

New Statesman -

From paranoia to playing safe

The censoring of our museums