Last week I visited several museums which are focused on certain cultures and ethnicities: The Jewish Museum, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Museum of the American Indian, The Asia Society and Museum of Chinese in America.


Asia Society

The name made me imagine something other than what the museum actually stood for. So when I went to visit, I felt a little dissatisfied with what I saw. The building is very modern and sleek – extremely beautiful – and the architecture was consistent with the work showed inside since there were only contemporary works displayed. However, when I heard the name “Asia Society” I expected there would be a more classical part of the museum dedicated with showing old artifacts. The building is tall, but only two floors are dedicated to showing work. All the other floors were marked as ‘offices’. So I turned to their website to get some answers.

By definition, a historical society is ‘a nonprofit organization devoted to preserving the historical record of a place, institution, people, activity or thing.’ So naturally, this is why I felt like I was missing the artifacts. However, society in this context means ‘an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.’

Asia Society is more interested in keeping people up-to-date with current events rather than past ones. On their website, they address many current important issues such as global health, the environment, human rights, arts, culture, economics, religion, tradition, and conflicts between countries to name just a few. They also have extensive educational programs for children and students. Their calendar shows many events which would interest their audience. So my conclusion was that the galleries shown are just on the side of everything else they have going for them.

The Jewish Museum and Museum of Jewish Heritage

Both museums were extremely impressive, although different in their focus. The Jewish Museum presents some contemporary art and it also has an impressive permanent exhibition on Jewish History presented as a timeline and displayed on two floors. The Museum of Jewish Heritage focuses more on the Holocaust and what it means to be Jewish, as the name implies. Both museums used technology extensively and it was very effective. I was impressed with the natural progression from one gallery to another that both museums presented. I found it the easiest to find my way around these museums from all that I’ve seen so far.

I first visited the The Jewish Museum. They used a combination of the old and the new to create a certain mood and it was very efficient. For example, you would hear sounds of a sermon while looking at an old Torah. They had a really nice display called “Modern Culture and the Cafe.” There were a few tables organized as in a cafe with world maps on them. Some of the cities on the map had buttons and when you pressed them you would hear the story of that city from a Jewish perspective.

I thought I was really impressed with all the sounds and little documentaries displayed there until I went to the Museum of Jewish Heritage. This one really blew me away. As soon as I walked in, there was a room with three huge projections displaying a documentary on what it means to be Jewish. It was overwhelming. As I walked around, there were many interspersed screens on the wall among the older objects displayed. The screens were showing different Jewish stories. It was most efficient not because I would stop and look at all the screens, but because just by passing by them I would hear the stories. The voices were loud and they were coming from everywhere. Also, there were too many objects and pictures displayed, it was impossible to pay attention to everything that was there. Instead, by seeing so many objects and stories together, one would understand the magnitude of the topic.

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What I most liked about the Museum of Jewish Heritage was what I felt when I got to the end of the gallery. The gallery is in a sort of tomb or temple in a spiral. However, at the last floor the architecture changes completely. You walk through a glass bridge and can sit down on a bench. There is a beautiful light installation that reflects blue tones similar to water to relax and soothe you. You can bask in the sunlight, look at the water and Battery Park, and the Statue of Liberty. It makes you realize you are safe.

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National Museum of the American Indian

Before I went there, Marco told me he was struck with the building chosen for this museum. I went to see for myself and he was right, the museum is located in a huge Colonial European building which seems a little out of place for the purpose of this particular museum. In the center of the building, the murals in the rotunda show majestic depictions of European ships coming to America. I was confused, but to my help I found a ‘Resource Center’ that seemed very handy. So I went in and asked the woman there why this particular building was chosen. To my content, I found there was a great reason: the building was built on what used to be a fortress the American Indian had built against the Dutch. I was very satisfied with the answer and I was wondering why they didn’t include that story in the guide.

The museum is a great place for kids. In the back there is a small room with many interactive educative displays. I was lucky to see a group of children go in there and they went crazy over those things. Clearly effective in attracting attention, I’m just not sure how much they actually learned from them.