Curatorial Practices in Museums Housing
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CURATORIAL PRACTICES IN MUSEUMS HOUSING FASHION AND DRESS COLLECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM by JESSICA DREW SCHWARTZ (Under the Direction of José Blanco F.) ABSTRACT This study utilized in-depth interviews with curators of fashion and dress departments at large-scale museums in the United States and the United Kingdom to further explore the methods employed by curators of fashion and dress exhibitions. The objectives were to understand the various types of fashion and dress exhibitions and the goals of the curator responsible for the exhibitions; to understand the developmental process of dress and fashion exhibitions through the viewpoint of fashion and dress curators; and to understand the recent history of curatorial work within fashion and dress departments at various English and American museums. The collected data illustrates general themes concerning goals of the curators, research conducted for exhibitions, decisions concerning garments and mannequins, time frames for exhibition planning and methods of developing ideas for fashion and dress exhibitions. INDEX WORDS: Fashion, Dress, Exhibition, Curator, Museum, Mannequin, Catalogues CURATORIAL PRACTICES IN MUSEUMS HOUSING FASHION AND DRESS COLLECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM by JESSICA DREW SCHWARTZ B.S.F.C.S., The University of Georgia, 2010 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2012 © 2012 JESSICA DREW SCHWARTZ All Rights Reserved CURATORIAL PRACTICES IN MUSEUMS HOUSING FASHION AND DRESS COLLECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM by JESSICA DREW SCHWARTZ Major Professor: José Blanco F. Committee: Patricia Hunt-Hurst Jan Hathcote Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2012 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During my senior year of my undergraduate degree, I enrolled in a museum studies course with Dr. José Blanco that focused on fashion and dress curatorial practices. This class served as the starting point for my interest in the work of fashion and dress curators. The following summer, I spent two months working with Sonnet Stanfill, the curator of 20th century and contemporary fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England. Through my work with Sonnet, I realized this was the career I wanted to pursue. With their guidance and mentorship, I began my graduate career at the University of Georgia. I am eternally thankful for their counseling and mentorship over the years. I would also like to thank Dr. Patricia Hunt-Hurst and Dr. Jan Hathcote for their undaunted support and guidance throughout conducting research and writing of my thesis. Without your enthusiasm for my topic I would not have enjoyed the process as much as I did. Having the opportunity to conduct research with curators in London, New York City and Los Angeles was an experience I will never forget. It is one that has enabled me to grow academically and personally. I would also like to thank Diane Kesler and Barbara Derricotte; interacting on a daily basis has been a pleasure and often a bright spot in my day. A huge thank you goes out to all of the TMI graduate students who I had the benefit to work with and learn from throughout my two years. I would never have completed my study without the love and support of my family and friends. Their encouragement throughout my two years is invaluable. Thank you to my mother, father, sister and brother-in-law for your continued support and guidance over the years. The vi encouragement of my parents, and their belief that I am doing something worthwhile, has been priceless. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………..………………………………..v LIST OF TABLES…..………………………………………….…………………………………x LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………………xi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………...1 Statement of Purpose……………………………………….……………..4 Objectives…………………………………………………….……….......4 Methodology……………………………………………………………...4 Justification……………………………………………………………….5 Limitations of the Study………………………………………..…………5 Definition of Terms…………………………………………….…………7 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE……………………………………………………10 Historical Background………………………………………….………..11 Types of Dress Collections……………………………………….……...14 Dress and Fashion Exhibitions……………………………………..…….24 Curatorial Process………………………………………………….…….33 III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES…………………………………………..….42 Objectives……………………………………………………………..…44 Methodology…………………………………………………………..…44 Data Collection…………………………………………………………..44 viii Data Analysis…………………………………………………………….47 Peer Debriefing………………………………………………………......48 IV. DATA ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………51 Description of the Interviews…………………………………………….51 Explanation of the Data Analysis Process……………………………….51 Portraits of Meaning……………………………………………………..52 Telling Extracts………………………………………………………….62 Answers from All Interviews…………………………………..………..62 Collective Meaning……………………………………………………..112 V. DISCUSSION..…………………………………………………………………116 Objective 1……………………………………………………………...118 Objective 2……………………………………………………………...123 Objective 3……………………………………………………………...140 VI. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS……………………………………….144 Significance……………………………………………………………..147 Limitations…………………………………………………………...…147 Recommendations for Future Research………………………………...148 Conclusions……………………………………………………………..149 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………........151 APPENDICES A Institutional Review Board Approval Form.…………………………………...162 B Informational Letter…………………………………………...………………..163 C Consent Form…………………………………...………………………………164 ix D Interview Protocol………………………………..…………………………..…166 E Objective 2…………………………………..……………………………….…169 F Objective 3…………………………………………...…………………………177 x LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Objective 1 – Goals of Previous Exhibitions…..…………………………………….113 Table 1.2 Objective 1 – Goals of Current Exhibitions….…………………………...…………114 Table 1.3 Objective 1 - Preference…..…………………………………………………………115 Table 2.1 Objective 2 – Ideas for Exhibitions…..……………………………………………...169 Table 2.2 Objective 2 - Research…..…………………………………………………………...170 Table 2.3 Objective 2 – Garment Selection…..………………………………………………...171 Table 2.4 Objective 2 – Mannequin Selection…..……………………………………………...172 Table 2.5 Objective 2 – Methods of Exhibition Design…………………….…………………..173 Table 2.6 Objective 2 – Exhibition Catalogue………………………………………………….174 Table 2.7 Objective 2 – Techniques Used in Exhibitions………………………………………175 Table 2.8 Objective 2 – Thoughts on Blogs……………………………….……………………176 Table 3.1 Objective 3 – Changes within Fashion and Dress Curation…...……………………177 Table 3.2 Objective 3 – Presence of Predetermined Information……...………………………178 Table 3.3 Objective 3 – Interactive Elements within Exhibitions……………………………...179 Table 3.4 Objective 3 – Viewpoint towards Conceptual Exhibitions…………………………..180 xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 - Analyzing Oral History……………………………………………………………….50 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Within museums, the curator is one of the best-known figures in the public sphere. Curators help maintain the popularity and success of the museum among its constituents through producing exciting exhibitions available to the public. A curator is responsible for the display of pieces in both permanent and temporary exhibition spaces (Dean & Edson, 1994). This definition often expands to include the acquiring of objects for the collection as well as the conceptualization and implementation of exhibitions within a museum. In the twenty-first century world of dress and fashion history, well-known curators easily come to mind as popular and powerful within the realm of museums. From Harold Koda at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the “High Heeled Historian” Valerie Steele at the Fashion Institute of Technology (Louie, 1999), the esteem that numerous dress curators enjoy is due in part to the fascination the public has with the subjects of fashion and dress. According to Amy de la Haye, a curator of dress in London who has curated exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Brighton Museum, “few other forms of material culture can provide such tangible evidence of lives lived. Fashion and dress are some of the few media that humans can discernibly imprint, mark, or alter” (2010, p. 287). The tangible nature of fashion and dress helps explain the popularity these exhibitions have enjoyed within the past forty years. In the 1960s, fashion began to display a lively and bright energy in various areas of life and took an interesting social and cultural turn (Eicher, 2010). As a result, the phenomenon of 2 “fashion” had a strong effect on the way fashion and dress was evaluated within academic settings. Fashion became the center of a new intellectual debate, which formed the foundation of contemporary fashion and dress studies. The new focus on fashion as an appropriate area for academic study gave way to the specialized fashion and dress museum. The surge in popularity surrounding the fashion and dress museum, as well as appropriated departments within previously established museums, took place predominately during the late twentieth century. Beginning with Cecil Beaton’s 1971-72 exhibition entitled Fashion: An Anthology, fashion and dress exhibitions have enjoyed a prominent spot within the realm of major exhibitions put together by large-scale museums. The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York City holds an annual fashion and dress exhibition, while the Victoria & Albert Museum (the V&A) in