Musuems: Amazing or Amazingly Boring?

Visitors at the Louvre Musuem

Visitors at the Louvre Musuem

The NY Times had an article about visiting the Louvre Musuem in Paris. While it’s mainly about one museum, the writer uses it as a launching pad to discuss why we go to mueums. He also questioned whether modern tourism and technology may have cheapened the experience of seeing art.

If you’ve traveled for a while, then the only thing that can get old more quickly than temples is museums. While many are indeed worth more than the price of admission, others seem like haphazard artifacts thrown together to make money off tourists.

Let’s hear your experiences. Any museums that opened your eyes and transported to another time? Which ones bored you to tears?

Posted by | Comments (11)  | August 21, 2009
Category: Notes from the collective travel mind


11 Responses to “Musuems: Amazing or Amazingly Boring?”

  1. Betsy Says:

    I live in Paris, and a lot of friends pass through on their European trips. The Louvre is always number one on their list, and I always ask them why. Why do you want to see the Mona Lisa? Is it something you are really interested in?

    I try to suggest other museums. Paris has hundreds of them, and there is certainly one that would peak my visitors’ interest more than the Louvre. I want them to walk away with a good memory of the city, not a disappointed shrug as they admit the Mona Lisa was too small and the Louvre was too big. And almost all of them reach this conclusion.

    But they never deviate from their game plan. They’re in Paris for possibly one time and one time only, and just because the Louvre is so famous, it must be on the short list.

    ps the link doesn’t go to the right story. It is here: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/arts/design/03abroad.html

  2. Nabeel Says:

    How a museum can be interesting? well I can’t question everyone’s interest but it should be only for teachers and old people.

  3. Rich Cook Says:

    Why do you travel if you don’t want to see museums? To me, they are just a relevant as any other place you’d visit when traveling. Museums are storehouses of history – they hold the (usually) most valuable and often most interesting pieces of a areas history or art. Isn’t travel about discovery, of things outside of ourselves? Museums are like books, with all the amazing things to discover within their walls.

    I know its easy to get jaded and think museums are old, stuffy buildings with a bunch of decaying junk. When we travel, we may think of visiting the tourist or most well known places – who goes to Egypt without wanted to see the Pyramids, or Rio de Janeiro’s beaches? But just as relevant as Sugar Loaf (which is fantastic…just got back from Rio), are the cultural treasures within a museum.

    Maybe it goes against the vagabonding ethic but I think that just because the tourists flock to it, it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it or doesn’t have something for you! Cliche’s are cliche’s usually because they are true.

  4. Zach Says:

    Bullocks–I love ’em, whether they have great works like the Prado or just bizarre artifacts.

  5. Renato Says:

    Why do you travel if you don’t want to see museums? Rich, there are some museums I liked, there are some of them (a few) I did not, maybe I was just tired and not in a good mood. That said I can tell you hundreds of reasons to travel without entering a single museum. On my way to the airport, spending three days in Norway. And no, I don’t plan to enter a single one. Should I just cancel the ticket?

  6. Technomadia Says:

    In our travels, we try to find a balance between visiting museums and actually interacting with a community and location. Museums are great, but they are but a snap shot of history, art, time and only a piece of the story.

    However, one museum that totally caught us off guard was the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri (USA). Keep in mind, you’re in heart of the midwest here. What they did was take found pieces of the city and constructed interactive art. Slides, caves, ferris wheel, planes, buses, etc. It’s a huge adult size playground. It’s like what you’d get if Peter Pan had a blowtorch. It’s amazing, and a fantastic way to experience the history of St. Louis in an interactive way. We did a travel piece/video in it recently:

    https://www.technomadia.com/2009/07/city_museum/

    – Cherie

  7. Cynthia Morris Says:

    I love visiting museums, and balance it with time out in the world. A museum visit can be very calming and relaxing after trekking around a city for hours.

    I particularly enjoy museums dedicated to one artist, such as the Atelier Brancusi in Paris, the Picasso museum in Paris, the Toulouse Lautrec museum in Albi, the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam….These places offer an opportunity to connect with one artist’s work and life in ways that always sparks insights for my own work and life.

    Time in museums allows me to slow down, be more reflective, and connect with history and creativity. I almost always take a coffee break in the museum’s cafe to sketch and make notes about what I’ve taken in. I give myself permission to see what I want, stay as long as I want, and enjoy it in my own way.

    That said, I travel to Paris every year and I don’t think I’ve been able to brave the Louvre since 1988. I, too, cannot bear the people who tool through museums taking photos of masterpieces with their cameras.

    Timing is key. I try to visit either at opening or in late afternoon, and I look for free evening opening hours. I had the fortune to be at the Prado in Madrid alone in front of Las Meninas by Velazquez. The painting is enormous, which I never knew from photos. I was able to enjoy this masterpiece alone several minutes before school groups wandered in. Another great museum is FOAM in Amsterdam, where I saw an amazing Richard Avedon exhibit.

  8. Nicolaï Says:

    The Louvre is a bit too much. What I remember most was how tired I felt halfway through.

    The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nice is wonderful. Even better, the Musée de la Résistance in Lyon. That one is centered around a single topic: the French resistance during WWII. It suffers less from “paradox of choice” issues and is very well done.

    I think most (not all) people go to museums because it’s expected, or to give “justification” to their travel.

  9. cecilia wong Says:

    Try the National Gallery in London. You start by buying a beautiful color booklet on the color blue (or other subjects). It will take you to all the Renaissance paintings in different rooms that have the color blue. It will tell you which blue is the most expensive because it’s made with ground lapis lazuli. And that patrons who wanted more blue sky or more blue in Madonna’s robe had to pay more. When synthetic blue pigments came about. In one hour, you become an expert in a very small area of Renaissance art. After that, no two blues will ever look to same to you. Best of all, admission to the National Gallery is free.