How To Roast Coffee With An Air Popcorn Popper
Posted by Devon Akmon | Filed under Maker, Museums, Work
As mentioned in a previous post, (How To Make Turkish (or Arabic) Coffee), the Arab American National Museum is currently hosting an exhibition entitled From Mocha to Latte: Coffee, the Arab World and the $4 Cup. This exhibit explores coffee’s Arab cultural roots, the global institution we know as the coffeehouse and the consumption and production of the beverage in today’s marketplace. In addition to the exhibition, we are planning a series of fun and engaging public programs. Speaking to this, we’re having some fun creating online tutorials on coffee roasting and coffee brewing. Further, these tutorials are meant to encourage our audience to participate in maker culture.
Our first tutorial focuses on roasting coffee beans with an air popcorn popper. The following short video will walk you through the steps and set you on your way to a better tasting cup of Joe. Stay tuned for a forthcoming tutorial on brewing coffee with a siphon!
- Devon Akmon
How To Build A Simple Interpretative Panel For An Exhibit Pt.1
Posted by Devon Akmon | Filed under Maker, Museums, Work
Outsourcing the design and fabrication of exhibits is not a new trend in the museum industry; this has been happening for quite some time. However, the current economic downturn is altering how we approach the design and fabrication of exhibition materials. A recent article in the publication Exhibit City succinctly explains the current trends in exhibit building:
Today, exhibit houses are under pressure to alter their business strategies. These pressures are spawned by the current economic downturn and competitive influences. Clients are demanding more from their exhibit houses but wanting to pay less. Custom builds and refurbishing services are down while rental exhibits are increasingly popular. Storage, drayage and shipping costs continue to escalate, and general service contractors (GSCs) bundle services to make it more difficult to compete.
The prevailing economic winds show no sign of letting up anytime soon, at least not in Michigan. As indicated above, this means more museums are trying to get by with less and, in turn, exhibit builders are floundering. Of the two large firms based in SE Michigan, one has gone out of business and one has greatly reduced its scope of services.
A couple of years ago, when the economy started going south, we decided to look at our exhibit building options. Clearly, for medium to large scale exhibits we knew that we would need to hire a firm. However, we also realized that small exhibits and “permanent exhibit” modifications could be handled in-house. For example, our web designer has been handling more print design. Our IT staff have been identifying new ways of building/modifying interactives (an Arduino, an mp3 player and some LEDs can go a long way and save some serious cash!). And our curatorial department has been creating more with so much less.
Speaking to this, I will walk you through the steps of creating a very simple exhibit panel. This is very basic, not hard to produce and the final project will look clean and professional. There are numerous modifications one can make, so play with it to meet you needs. Normally, the panel I show below would cost a couple of hundred dollars to have made. However, this one cost us under one hundred dollars to produce.
Step One: Create the Graphic
The first step is to draft the text for your panel. After you’ve proofread the material and are comfortable with the language and length, drop the text and any supporting graphics into a graphics application such as Adobe Illustrator. I won’t spend too much time discussing accessibility standards, but I will mention a few general guidelines one should follow:
- Avoid the use of colloquial and complex English, jargon, and technical language
- Use the active voice
- Use a sans-serif or simple serif typeface
- High contrast for type and background
For more information on sign and label standards, visit the Smithsonian Guidelines For Accessible Exhibition Design website or check out the Standards Manual for Signs and Labels from the American Association of Museums.
The text and graphics should now be laid out and the graphic panel set to its final dimensions. I generally use Adobe Illustrator to create my template. Before saving the final version, I “select all” and then “create outlines” of all the text. This helps to ensure the correct font type when printing the graphic.
Create the graphic.
Create a Proof
One could create a proof in-house if a quality printer is available. However, we generally send our templates to a high-quality printshop. We prefer to have the graphic created on a Lambda or LightJet machine. I would recommend using the Pantone Matching System to ensure the print colors meet your specification. Once your proof is ready, I highly recommend taping it to the wall at the panel’s final location. This helps to see what the panel will look like under the current lighting arrangement and, if there are similar panels nearby, it helps to ensure that the print blends in with those in the surrounding area. If the results satisfy your needs, it’s time to move on to building the substrate.
The proof of the graphic.
Prepare the Substrate
There are numerous substrates one can choose to use. However, we generally choose medium-density fiberboard (MDF). It’s cheap, durable, readily accessible and easy to work with. Mark out your dimensions on the substrate, measure again and make the cut. Be sure to cut your panel exactly to size. If a power saw is utilized then be sure to compensate for the kerf.
Once the panel is cut to size, use 600-1000 grit sandpaper to clean up the edges and surfaces of the substrate. Then, dress up the edges with several coats of paint that complement or match your graphic. I recommend at least four or five coats of paint. Don’t worry too much about the surface of the substrate; the graphic will cover one side and the other will face the wall. Once the paint dries and meets your satisfaction then you’re now ready to move on to the next step: putting the panel together.
The substrate.
Tune back in a couple of days for the second part of How To Build A Simple Interpretative Panel For An Exhibit. We’ll discuss the final steps in putting together a simple exhibit panel.
- Devon Akmon
Efforts to Avoid Reinforcing Stereotypes in a Museum Exhibit
Posted by Devon Akmon | Filed under Museums, Work
As an ethnic museum representing a community that is often maligned and/or misrepresented by the media and popular culture, we are always cognizant of the potential pitfalls of accidentally reinforcing a stereotype while presenting exhibitions. Unfortunately, common misconceptions of Arabs and the Arab world focus on backwards and unfriendly people living in an inhospitable environment with a culture frozen in previous times (sheiks, deserts, camels, terrorists, etc.). The images and stereotypes that illustrate these ideas are continuously reinforced by films and other popular media and news outlets. Therefore, a large portion of our work seeks to counter these stereotypes and misconceptions. However, even the most seemingly apolitical topic can have subtle elements that reinforce stereotypes. Speaking to this, we constantly need to carefully examine the materials that we are presenting with a very critical eye.
To help illustrate my point, I’ll present you with a tangible example. We are currently in the process of developing a small exhibit on the history of coffee and its roots in the Arab world. Within the gallery, and above a display of coffee making artifacts, is a historical image of a Bedouin tribe making coffee in a tent.
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. LC-DIG-matpc-01315. Making coffee in Bedouin tent.
This seems like a rather benign image. It’s a historical photograph that shows what one might have seen at a coffee ceremony in the early 20th century. Within the image one will notice several coffee-related elements – mortar and pestle, grinder, etc. – that would have been used during this time period. So, what’s the problem?
As many historians know, it was very common during this era for photographers to capture images of “exotic cultures” and depict them as primitives or “others.” Perhaps one of the most well-known controversies surrounds Edward Curtis and his series of photographs, The North American Indian. Curtis is accused of portraying Native Americans in the popular notions and stereotypes of the times. Similar to this, numerous photographers traveled to the Middle East in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to capture images of Arabs. Renowned scholar Edward Said is most famous for describing and critiquing “Orientalism,” which he perceived as a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the East. Images such as this can easily fall into the category of Orientalist art and photography, especially when considering the context in which these images were produced.
The American Colony was an independent, utopian, Christian sect formed by religious pilgrims who emigrated to Jerusalem from the United States and Sweden. They were responsible for creating this and several other photographs in historical Palestine. According to the Library of Congress, “These photographs captured the interest of the public and were greatly in demand.” As you can see, these images were both popular and a good source for much needed revenue to help improve the Colony’s living conditions in a foreign land. Arguably, the interest of the sitters was not a priority.
Similar to other ephemera, a greater understanding is constructed when viewed in the cultural context in which the object was produced. Unfortunately, this is not always an easy task. By exhibiting this image in a gallery that shows the history of coffee, we run the risk of potentially reinforcing an age-old stereotype about the Arab world. Speaking to this, our curatorial team has two strategical approaches it is exploring for addressing this issue. One approach is to make a game utilizing the artifacts in the exhibit and the photograph. A label next to the image asks visitors to locate within the gallery the objects that appear in the photo. In doing so, the curatorial team hopes to place the most amount of emphasis on the objects in the photograph. Second, the team is considering whether or not a second didactic label is necessary. This one might address the stereotype head on. While one approach seeks to distract attention, the second seeks to address the issue in a more transparent way.
We have not yet discussed how we might evaluate the success of these two approaches. Right now the curatorial team is working hard to put the finishing touches on the exhibition. I presume we will further delve into this in the coming week.
Thoughts? Reactions? Do you work in a museum? Have you had similar experiences? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
- Devon Akmon
