Window on the World
I’ve always been curiously drawn to the phrase from the Sound of Music, ‘Where the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.’ This kept coming to mind on my visit to the newly re-vamped National Museum of Scotland this weekend, about which I’d heard so much. I was up in Edinburgh for a very stimulating conference run by the AAH on ‘Madness and Revolt.’ Not having visited ‘Auld reekie’ for about fifteen years, this gave me a welcome opportunity to stay on and soak up some culture and atmosphere.
The new NMS space is stunning. On a bracing, cold Edinburgh day the museum was packed with families and friends learning and enjoying. But, the Grand Gallery, reminiscent of a giant Victorian birdcage, managed to maintain an air of calm, elegance even as an enthusiastic folk duo kicked off the build up to St. Andrew’s day celebrations at its centre. This large space has opened up the museum, so that all the galleries are enticingly visible from the centre. The simple theming around the ‘Natural World,’ ‘World Cultures,’ ‘Art and Design’ and ‘Science and Technology’ (the Scotland section is not visible from the grand gallery and has, in any case, been open for some time) makes these easy to navigate, while also maintaining links across sections. My only qualm was that the carefully structured orientation was not always immediately clear within galleries, such that I found some initially confusing.
The displays are simple but effective. In the ‘Natural World,’ animals, birds and reptiles stand on ‘islands’ on the ground floor grouped by their characteristics, and reach up to the higher galleries. Above them, other specimens and skeletons fly across the space. ‘World Cultures’ showcases different environments, religious practices, and artistic legacies, while highlighting common cultural concerns with performance and display. Some particularly effective interactives bring out the smells of different cultures. ‘Art and Design’ looks at how taste and skill have changed over the last 400 odd years, from the altarpiece to the mini, majolica to electric guitar, highlighting key figures and developments. Every section makes clear the breadth and beauty of the NMS’s collections.
But why the Sound of Music? A striking feature of the new museum, is a ‘Window on the World’ wall which covers one complete side of the grand gallery. This showcases 800-odd objects from the collections, juxtaposed in small groups. Propellers sit next to shells, armour next to railway signs, porcelain with bottled specimens, and typewriters with Isnik tiles. In front of each section, a simply-designed terminal allows you to learn more about each group of objects. This is a wonderful window on the NMS, but also, for me, on how simply and effectively such museums can make the breadth of their collections beautifully clear to the public, and how modern museums can make the most of their pasts as ‘cabinets of curiosity.’