Mobile museums

When asked the question "what is a museum?" most people would probably first respond with traditional notions of space; they would perhaps discuss how museums are places where one physically visits to see art or a new blockbuster exhibit. The idea of a museum coming to the visitor, of setting up shop in one's neighborhood, local library, even school, is something so far out of the realm of possibilities for many people. But it can happen...and does! Mobile museums are great ways of getting traditional collecting and exhibiting techniques out to the masses that may not otherwise have access to large and sometimes intimidating spaces. Furthermore, mobile museums reach out to the local community, not only asking for their attendance but sometimes even their active participation.

The San Francisco Mobile Museum is a mobile museum based in San Francisco, California and describes itself as an "experimental platform...[which] plays with short-run exhibits that appear in store fronts, parks and social spaces."

SF Mobile Museum in Dolores Park in San Francisco 

SF Mobile Museum is not only physically movable but also stresses the participatory nature of its' existence. Calls for exhibit ideas as well as artistic submissions ask the public, the local San Franciscan community, to contribute to the creation of a new exhibit.

Check it out.

http://sfmobilemuseum.org/
http://sfmobilemuseum.blogspot.com/

Mobile museums are not only vehicles to get a museum-esque experience out to those who may not be able to access individual institutions, but they also provide a platform for people who wish to get alternative views, such as historical vantage points, out.

My next example, the Black History 101 Mobile Museum, provides access to black history in the form of historical objects exhibited in a mobile trailer. Khalid El-Hakim, founder of the Black History 101 Museum, was a former educator in the public school system in Detroit, MI who felt that history classes did not offer his students a balanced perspective on American history. In an effort to fix this problem, he has collected approximately 1500 objects and artifacts relevant to black history and eventually founded the mobile museum. He now takes the museum all over the country to people and places interested in his work; from college campuses to small rural communities, El-Hakim is making sure the message of his museum is loud and clear.

Founder El-Hakim with the mobile museum 

Inside the mobile museum during the Hip Hop exhibition 

Here's a video of an exhibit at the University of Michigan using the Black History 101's artifacts:



Here's an article about the hip-hop exhibit which he put on in the museum as well as a little more information on the museum's founding.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.8410/title.black-history-101-mobile-museum-readies-tour-hip-hop

http://www.thegreenmagazine.com/content/facing-the-past?page=0,0

Can these mobile museums be spaces of learning, sharing, and exhibiting like traditional museums? Or is this a passing trend, something popular in current practice?