2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA. Affected by the epidemic, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is currently closed, in the previous news, the Met announced that it will be closed until July, and the "150th Anniversary Special Exhibition" will also be postponed.
However, during the closure period, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York still tells the story of the museum online. As part of the celebration of the Met's 150th anniversary, the Met story is a video series that is a year-long social media initiative designed to share the stories of people who have visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and talk about their own connection to the museum. Those who share stories include artists, curators, teachers, designers, actors, museum staff, public figures, and more.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Met Stories: Review and expectations
Currently, four episodes of this video series have been released. The first episode, titled "Looking Back and Anticipating," was narrated by Metropolitan Image Archivist Stephanie Post about her story with the Metropolitan Photographic History Archive; Educator and former Runway host Tim Gunn shared the fashion history he saw at the Metropolitan Museum; and New York ballet dancer Silas Farley recounted how museum art became dance inspiration.
Silas Farley (left), Stephanie Post (center), Tim Gunn (right)
Stephanie Post worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 25 years. In her opinion, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has changed a lot today. "I work in the Image Archives Department, and I also like to organize these archives, which include old photographs, staff photos, and video material inside and outside the museum. It was a journey through time that I could reach. ”
Stephanie Post organizes the image archives
Photographic archive, inside the exhibition hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Stephanie said, "I learned how to look at clues. Some photos may not have that much information on them. For example, many of the pictures are not dated on them, so I can only take it a step further and look at them carefully. For example, there are pictures of women walking their dogs and men reading newspapers, reading Life magazine, showing the fourth issue in 1970, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art had just been renovated. Previously, the stairs at the gate were not wide and were very crowded. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Metropolis and the 50th anniversary of the renovation, and today, the Metropolis is part of the city, which is open to the world and welcomes all people to visit the museum. Just like 50 years ago, you can see children playing in the doorway, chasing each other, and the hot dog stall is still there. ”
Photographic Archive, outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1970s
In her opinion, sitting in the archives and looking at these pictures, watching the passage of time, watching the changes in the museum, "time is the best lens".
Tim Gunn, an educator and former host of the Runway project, said, "When I come to the Met, I always dress up to show respect for the artifacts. The eyes of these artifacts may also look back at us. In his story, he tells how to discover the history of fashion in museums:
"When I wandered around the museum alone, I found that there was no course on fashion in the museum, which I thought was irresponsible. When you look at the statues in the Egyptian exhibition hall, you might think that Alexander McQueen designed them 20 years ago. So what comes to mind is that I'm going to take my students to the Metropolis, to the ancient Egyptian showroom, because this is the cradle of fashion, this is the origin of the tailoring industry, this is the origin of jewelry design. The production of fabrics originated in Egypt, while linen began 8,000 years ago. Then, we'll walk through the ancient Greek and Roman exhibition halls and start talking about fabrics. Then in the Renaissance part, we focus on the haute couture of the time. ”
The Metropolitan Museum of Ancient Egypt Exhibition Hall
Linen fabrics on display in the Ancient Egyptian Gallery of the Metropolitan Museum
"For me, the Metropolis has fueled me to discover myself here and understand myself. These artifacts are alive. They were created then and connected to the present. ”
New York ballet dancer Silas Farley tells how museum art became inspiration for dance. First, he talks about his indissoluble relationship with ballet and how the museum inspired it:
"The first time I saw ballet was when I was six years old, in a church in North Carolina, my hometown. Since then, I have been fascinated by ballet and embarked on the path of becoming a ballet dancer. I felt like male ballet dancers were warrior poets, which led me to new York and become a part of the New York Ballet. When I was 14 years old, I came here and started ballet training. ”
"The sponsor at the time gave me a membership card for the Metropolitan Museum. I've always been curious about how ballet and other art forms relate. And I think Metropolis is designed for people like me, I see rhythm in artistic patterns, I see dynamics in the brushstrokes of painting, I see lines, forms and precision in sculpture. As a ballet dancer, these combinations of power and sensibility are what I seek. You can feel this in Rodin's sculptures, and in the long scrolls and calligraphy of Chinese paintings, there is also the rhythm I am looking for. ”
Silas Farley in front of Rodin's sculpture
Chinese paintings in the metropolitan museum of art
Met Stories: Breaking boundaries
The second episode revolves around the theme "Breaking Boundaries," in which chef and writer Yotam Ottolenghi talks about how food and art are connected; Asim Rehman, co-founder of the Muslim Bar Association, recalls how he visited the Met from his childhood and how museums shaped his American Muslim identity; and independent curator and art historian Lowy Sims tells the story of her time in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's contemporary art collection.
Lori Sim (left), Yotan Otholungi (center), Asim Lehman (right)
Chef and author Yotam Ottolenghi said, "I'm a chef and I love museums, but I don't think there's anything to do with the two. It wasn't until 2015 that the Metropolis contacted me, they had an exhibition "Jerusalem: 1000-1400" and they wanted me to do an event to create this authentic medieval feast, a specialty of the region. ”
Medieval art from the Metropolitan Museum's collection
"In medieval Jerusalem, Christianity and Muslims were together, and the cuisine of that time became the gastronomic culture of the Middle East today," Yotan said. But I don't know about the Middle Ages. So as I prepared for this feast, I searched for the world's first cookbook, which was published in Baghdad in the 10th-13th centuries. I was struck by how similar the food in the area was today's food. For example, lamb chops and fruits, nuts, chickpeas and lentils and all these things in the Middle Eastern food culture actually existed at that time. And when I walk into the museum, I can find the same situation. When you look at the artworks seriously, you can see the culture of the time, the exhibition halls provide bridges for people of different cultures, every object is not isolated there, and the food is the same. ”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibits gastronomy in its collections
Asim Rehman, co-founder of the Muslim Bar Association, recalls his first visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "I grew up in New York. My family is also the only immigrant family in the neighborhood. In 1987, my parents rented a school bus, brought many Muslim families with them, and brought snacks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The incident eventually appeared in the Muslim Newsletter. That tour was also my first visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and it also made me feel that the Metropolis is a big community, which also displays our historical heritage. ”
In 1987, Asim Lehman visited the Metropolitan Museum with his parents and other Muslim immigrants
"Metropolis isn't just about objects, it's about the community we've created that allows different people to visit those objects together. As I grew older, I stopped talking about how beautiful and important Islamic art was, and how important it was to learn, to face different cultural traditions, and to break boundaries. Asim said.
Independent curator and art historian Lowery Sims tells the story of her work on the contemporary art collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Lori Sim in the exhibition hall
"I was at the Met for 27 years. Originally, I was a regular employee of the Met on a project called 'community programe,' and our job was to get the met outdoors. In 1975, I became an assistant curator of 20th Century Art. At the time, the Metropolis was very conservative about the choice of contemporary art in the 20th century, and by the mid-1990s, the Metropolis gradually began to pay attention to the diversity of the works, and we tried to show the full extent of human endeavor. Personally, I have witnessed changes in the Metropolis. Nowadays, museums place more emphasis on interaction and public participation. Institutions used to be unilateral authorities, but if agencies invite people to participate, as far as I'm concerned, what I've been doing at the time is asking the audience how they feel. Sometimes, as a curator, you just have to ask and listen before you get on with your work. ”
Met Stories: Seen
The theme of the third episode is "Being Seen," in which artist Jodi Archambault, a former U.S. President Barack Obama policy adviser, talks about how the museum's display of Native American art has affected her as an Native American.
Jody Arcampabert
At the beginning of the narrative, Jodi Archambault points to a costume design and says, "This is the dress I designed and worn." I've been dancing in it for 5 years. This design is derived from a traditional Lakota design. ”
Jody Arcampabert with her design of the costumes
Jody, who grew up at the Pine Ridge Indian Sanctuary in South Dakota, said, "My grandma and aunt taught us how to string beads when we were very young. They make sure we dress appropriately. That's how they grow up and then teach us. I grew up in an environment where there was a lot of Native American art, but we didn't have a museum to keep it. When I came to college and studied art and history, when I studied world art. I realized that museums make us all nameless. Museums usually name white people who create art, but for those indigenous art creators, museums only label their works, naming them after colonies, sometimes with false labels. ”
"In the exhibition hall there is a sculpture of Shivasha, whose head looks at the ground and looks rather depressing. That's how Native Americans have long been viewed in the United States, and now museums are starting to collect those works and display them. In 2015, Metropolis held the exhibition "Artists of Earth and Sky", and the costumes I designed became part of the exhibits. Previously, the Met had never exhibited an exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art. It's only started in 2015, which is a bit late, but it's better than not showing it. Now, this work has become a collection, and this dress is a channel of communication and dialogue between people, not only people of this era, but also people of the past. ”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibits about Native Americans
Met Stories: Connected
In the story that unfolds around Connected, Jenita Pettway, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's software inspector, tells about everyday experiences and connections to Glenn Ligon's work as a black woman, while Ariun Sanjaajamts, founder of the Council for Mongolian Culture in New York, tells about the Mongolian cultural heritage she encountered in the museum.
Janeta Petwell (left), Ariun Sanjaajamts (right)
Jenita Pettway said, "Sometimes, I feel like I'm just a spectator, a visitor here. "People were communicating with each other in the museum, but no one came to talk to me. People just walked past me, and my job was to test the software for the museum. I browse the web pages to make sure the information displayed is accurate.
"Sometimes, I'm the only black man in this room. In that moment, although in a room full of people, I was still alone in a way. Janeta says that working at the Met, being black may leave her alone, but when she sees Glenn Ligon piece's work— four etched prints— she thinks it's closer to him, "he's African-American, like me." It makes the work less mysterious and not out of reach. ”
Etchings by Glenn Reagan
"The black part of the etching makes it difficult to read the text above. It is a quote from Ralph Ellison's novel The Invisible Man, 'I am a man of substance, flesh and blood, bones, fibrous tissue—I can even say, I have a mind.' Please understand that others can't see me because they don't want to see me. Glenn Reagan expressed these feelings in 1992, and now, almost 30 years later, I can still feel his words, the same feelings. Museums need the reaction of the surrounding society. In the Mets, not everything is going well, but they're trying to accommodate all the people and do something for them. ”
The viewer is in front of Glenn Reagan's work
"Nowadays, I go online and see the work because it's a more personal viewing experience. It makes me feel connected to the work and that I am part of the world. You can feel yourself. ”
Ariun Sanjaajamts, founder of the Mongolian Cultural Council in New York, tells the story of the experience of meeting Mongolian history in a museum: "I grew up in Mongolia. People are there and are not allowed to learn much of the history of the world. In addition, the history of Mongolia is forbidden. So, I have a lot of questions about history. Where do we come from? What was our ancient art like? But at the time, I couldn't find those answers. When I was 27 years old, Mongolia went from socialism to democracy. At that time, I didn't know our history, and we needed to learn from scratch. ”
Ariun Sanjaajamts sees Mongolian artifacts at the Metropolitan Museum
"In 2010, my daughter came to New York, and I came to New York, opening another chapter in my life. While wandering around the Metropolitan Museum, I saw an exhibition hall on weapons, some of which caught my eye, a helmet painted with a Buddha motif, and I saw the introduction that read 'Mongolia, 15th century - 17th century'. Mongolia did not allow people to talk about religion during the socialist period. Eventually, I saw the history of Mongolia in the Metropolis. The metropolis showcases the history and culture of Mongolia. I am not a historian, but I started organizing a visit by Mongolian immigrants from the community. And when Mongolian officials come here to investigate and understand the life of Mongolians in the United States, someone has to build bridges. The Metropolis shows that the history of Mongolia is also part of the history of the world, and now I have a granddaughter who learns English and I am teaching her Mongolian. I took her to the Metropolitan Museum, where she learned world history, as well as Mongolian history. ”
Ariun Sanjaajamts organizes a visit to the Metropolitan Museum
Currently, the "Met story" is continuing. At the same time, the Metropolitan Museum encourages audiences to tell their own stories. "What's your Cosmopolitan story?" Share your story on #MyMetStory with social media. Submit your story. The Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote on its official website.