The Museum Is Not Enough

The Museum Is Not Enough is the result of collective reflections on architecture, contemporary social concerns, institutions, and the public undertaken by the CCA in recent years. Building on years of thematic investigations and of a continued questioning of the role of cultural institutions and the issues they face today, the book puts forward the CCA's own positions and opens them up to a dialogue with designers, curators, photographers, publishers, and other institutions who ask themselves similar questions. This publication is conceived as the first volume of a yearly magazine, with which the CCA will explore urgent questions defining its curatorial activity. Topics addressed in this volume include the institution's engagement with the present, the significance of the archive as a site for the production of new ideas, display strategies in architecture exhibitions, the need for mediation in art, and the impact of the digital in current museum practices. Contributors Noura Al Sayeh, Greg Barton, Ruth Est�vez, Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen, Stefano Graziani, Dan Handel, Martin Huberman, Wilfred Kuehn, Kalle Lasn, Maria Lind, Kieran Long, Ligia Nobre, Mike Pepi, Damon Rich, Filippo Romano, Mika Savela, Bernd Scherer, Jack Self, Astria Suparak, Shirley Surya, Jes�s Vassallo, James Voorhies, and Mark Wigley Published by Sternberg Press and the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA)

The Museum Is Not Enough is the result of collective reflections on architecture, contemporary social concerns, institutions, and the public undertaken by the CCA in recent years. Building on years of thematic investigations and of a continued questioning of the role of cultural institutions and the issues they face today, the book puts forward the CCA's own positions and opens them up to a dialogue with designers, curators, photographers, publishers, and other institutions who ask themselves similar questions.This publication is conceived as the first volume of a yearly magazine, with which the CCA will explore urgent questions defining its curatorial activity. Topics addressed in this volume include the institution's engagement with the present, the significance of the archive as a site for the production of new ideas, display strategies in architecture exhibitions, the need for mediation in art, and the impact of the digital in current museum practices.

The landmark survey that celebrates all the places where people hang out--and is helping to spawn their revival A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice "Third places," or "great good places," are the many public places where people can gather, put aside the concerns of home and work (their first and second places), and hang out simply for the pleasures of good company and lively conversation. They are the heart of a community's social vitality and the grassroots of a democracy. Author Ray Oldenburg portrays, probes, and promotes th4ese great good places--coffee houses, cafes, bookstores, hair salons, bars, bistros, and many others both past and present--and offers a vision for their revitalization. Eloquent and visionary, this is a compelling argument for these settings of informal public life as essential for the health both of our communities and ourselves. And its message is being heard: Today, entrepreneurs from Seattle to Florida are heeding the call of The Great Good Place--opening coffee houses, bookstores, community centers, bars, and other establishments and proudly acknowledging their indebtedness to this book.

A leading activist museum director explains why museums are at the center of a political storm In an age of protest, cultural institutions have come under fire. Protestors have mobilized against sources of museum funding, as happened at the Metropolitan Museum, and against board appointments, forcing tear gas manufacturer Warren Kanders to resign at the Whitney. That is to say nothing of demonstrations against exhibitions and artworks. Protests have roiled institutions across the world, from the Abu Dhabi Guggenheim to the Akron Art Museum. A popular expectation has grown that galleries and museums should work for social change. As Director of the Queens Museum, Laura Raicovich helped turn that New York muni- cipal institution into a public commons for art and activism, organizing high-powered exhibitions that doubled as political protests. Then in January 2018, she resigned, after a dispute with the Queens Museum board and city officials. This public controversy followed the museum’s responses to Donald Trump’s election, including her objections to the Israeli government using the museum for an event featuring Vice President Mike Pence. In this lucid and accessible book, Raicovich examines some of the key museum flashpoints and provides historical context for the current controversies. She shows how art museums arose as colonial institutions bearing an ideology of neutrality that masks their role in upholding conservative, capitalist values. And she suggests ways museums can be reinvented to serve better, public ends.

Visitor participation is a hot topic in the contemporary world of museums, art galleries, science centers, libraries and cultural organizations. How can your institution do it and do it well? The Participatory Museum is a practical guide to working with community members and visitors to make cultural institutions more dynamic, relevant, essential places. Museum consultant and exhibit designer Nina Simon weaves together innovative design techniques and case studies to make a powerful case for participatory practice. "Nina Simon's new book is essential for museum directors interested in experimenting with audience participation on the one hand and cautious about upending the tradition museum model on the other. In concentrating on the practical, this book makes implementation possible in most museums. More importantly, in describing the philosophy and rationale behind participatory activity, it makes clear that action does not always require new technology or machinery. Museums need to change, are changing, and will change further in the future. This book is a helpful and thoughtful road map for speeding such transformation." -Elaine Heumann Gurian, international museum consultant and author of Civilizing the Museum "This book is an extraordinary resource. Nina has assembled the collective wisdom of the field, and has given it her own brilliant spin. She shows us all how to walk the talk. Her book will make you want to go right out and start experimenting with participatory projects." -Kathleen McLean, participatory museum designer and author of Planning for People in Museum Exhibitions "I predict that in the future this book will be a classic work of museology." --Elizabeth Merritt, founding director of the Center for the Future of Museums

A humorous, beautifully observed YA novel about overcoming grief amid the vulnerability of high school relationships

Set in Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, and Ottawa, Ontario, the stories in The Museum at the End of the World span the life of writer Robert Ford and his wife Sheila. Playing with various forms of comedy throughout, author John Metcalf paints a portrait of 20th century literary life with levity, satire, and unsuspecting moments of emotional depth.

Loyalty. Envy. Obligation. Dreams. Disappointment. Fear. Negligence. Coping. Elation. Lust. Nature. Freedom. Heartbreak. Insouciance. Audacity. Gluttony. Belief. God. Karma. Knowing what you want (there is probably a French word for it). Saying Yes. Destiny. Truth. Devotion. Forgiveness. Life. Happiness (ever after). Hannah and Zoe haven’t had much in their lives, but they’ve always had each other. So when Zoe tells Hannah she needs to get out of their down-and-out New Jersey town, they pile into Hannah’s beat-up old Le Mans and head west, putting everything—their deadbeat parents, their disappointing love lives, their inevitable enrollment at community college—behind them. As they chase storms and make new friends, Zoe tells Hannah she wants more for her. She wants her to live bigger, dream grander, aim higher. And so Zoe begins teaching Hannah all about life’s intangible things, concepts sadly missing from her existence—things like audacity, insouciance, karma, and even happiness. An unforgettable read from the acclaimed author of The Probability of Miracles, The Museum of Intangible Things sparkles with the humor and heartbreak of true friendship and first love.