image descriptions in the alt.
Yesterday I got really annoyed with one of our cases. Its the first one you see when you step inside the museum, its big it has no shelves, and it is freaking ugly. It had an either hella faded or Very dusty red cloth on the bottom and all the objects felt "shoved in". Every part of it pissed me off.
So I did something about it.
This is what it looked like (I didn't take the best before photos)
its hard to tell but the reddy-brown panel at the back by the hanging jacket is actually a strip of cloth. the other mirror must have broken at some point and they didn't bother repairing it.
I got all the Stuff out carefully. I placed them on top of the 2 cabinets - the one they came out of and the one next to them. Ianto tried REALLY hard to help. He wasn't allowed. he doesn't understand safe object handling.
I did get this photo though.
After pulling up the red FELT (felt attracts dust and moisture and should Never be used in a museum setting like this) I discovered a gross layer of green carpeting that also shouldn't be there but was glued down.
Next we windexed inside and out. Never use windex or other chemical cleaners in a case if it has objects in it. This one was empty.
As I waited for the windex to dissipate I grabbed our big roll of acid free archival paper and cut off a chunk to replace the RED FELT. By the time I got that situated we had a surprise visit from a local reservation school (no charge for entrance). I was extra glad to be able to hide stand behind the case and show them some of the object that would have been in it. They were young but asked good questions and seemed to enjoy their time.
As they left I finally started placing some objects back in the case. As I did that I copied down the (bad) interpretation and also wrote out a list of interp to add. the new display is roughly split into 2 sections.
1. Object made locally for local Nations
2. Objects made for sale to other Nations or settlers
3. Object not made locally
I also took out a sewing machine and 3 baskets for space reasons. Oh, and a hanger.
This is what it looks like now.
Its only one case and not technically improved much. But, man, it looks better.