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The Mystery Of Things

The Mystery of Things

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A temporary exhibition at the Brooklyn Children's Museum that used inquiry-based activities to investigate objects from the collection and encourage visitors to look more closely at the many objects on display, search for clues about their meanings, and consider meanings of their own.

Some objects on display were a mystery, even to the curators who selected them, and visitors were encouraged to hypothesize about their uses and meanings. Objects were organized into types of meaning and engagement, such as Seeing Individual Differences, Similar Meanings?, Searching for Patterns, Listening to Objects, National Meanings, and Unknown Meanings. In this exhibit, visitors could discover that what looked like five bowls were actually some bowls, a bell, and even a hat. Staff selected objects from the collection that they particularly liked or appreciated. Visitors also loaned personal things for display, along with photos of them holding their objects.

Date: 1988
Roles: Director of Exhibitions, Conceptual Planner
Footprint: 3,500 square feet
Venue: Brooklyn Children's Museum
Collaborators: Peter Shrope, Max Cameron, Beverly Serrell