I've never been anywhere quite like it. My friend once described it as "an art piece that uses museum curation as its medium" and that's the best description I've come across. To get an idea of what that means, understand that it's fully laid out as a museum with exhibits featuring various objects and artifacts and expositions thereof but these exhibits wildly vary between truth and fantasy. Some are showcases of real, if niche, cultural practices and some are histories of entirely fictional figures that are nevertheless compelling and beautiful.
The creator was awarded a McArthur grant in 2001 and I feel it was more than deserved.
Another strong recommendation for this unique place. I visited soon after its 1988 opening. The museum was so off the grid and unknown that early visitors like me received personal guided tours of unlimited duration from its founder/creator, David Hildebrand Wilson.
Do you remember any exhibits from that time that aren't in place today?
It was wonderful. Scintillating. Alas, that was in the late 1980s and I haven't been back, though from the photo in Wikipedia its kind of derelict/dumpy entrance looks like it hasn't changed at all.
If you read "Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology," Lawrence Weschler's superb 1995 book about the museum with extended interviews with Wilson, you will find it hard not to want to visit.
My friend from school days, who is into a digging up lot of WWII stuffs, have a museum in a remote corner of India. Backed by Japan, and the local government, it is located near to other Japanese related location in Imphal, Manipur (INDIA).
Here are some pictures I took while visiting it some time before the official opening. I think I got some of the Indian Currency printed by the Japanese during the war. I might also have copies of some videos from during that time (I think the 40s-50s).
I'm a bit surprised that here in Boston, the nearest museum listed is in New York.
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is in Amherst, MA and quite excellent.
It's only museums I've visited myself. I actually do have a draft entry in the works about the Glass Flowers at the Harvard Natural History Museum, I should finish and publish that!
I think the site is compiled by one person. If you look at the map (https://www.niche-museums.com/map) it's heavily biased towards the southern UK and the SF Bay Area.
There is or was a Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in Boston.
Corning NY has a Glass museum that is run by the Corning Glass Company (company that makes iPhone glass). Which is pretty cool, if you are ever in that area.
Musee Champollion in Figeac, France about Champollion and his deciphering of the hieroglyphs and deciphering of ancient texts generally
If you're ever in Wisconsin - House on the Rock and the Mustard Museum.
I would like to signal boost The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles.
https://www.mjt.org/
I've never been anywhere quite like it. My friend once described it as "an art piece that uses museum curation as its medium" and that's the best description I've come across. To get an idea of what that means, understand that it's fully laid out as a museum with exhibits featuring various objects and artifacts and expositions thereof but these exhibits wildly vary between truth and fantasy. Some are showcases of real, if niche, cultural practices and some are histories of entirely fictional figures that are nevertheless compelling and beautiful.
The creator was awarded a McArthur grant in 2001 and I feel it was more than deserved.
Another strong recommendation for this unique place. I visited soon after its 1988 opening. The museum was so off the grid and unknown that early visitors like me received personal guided tours of unlimited duration from its founder/creator, David Hildebrand Wilson.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Jurassic_Technology
I am green with envy, that sounds amazing.
Do you remember any exhibits from that time that aren't in place today?
It was wonderful. Scintillating. Alas, that was in the late 1980s and I haven't been back, though from the photo in Wikipedia its kind of derelict/dumpy entrance looks like it hasn't changed at all.
If you read "Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology," Lawrence Weschler's superb 1995 book about the museum with extended interviews with Wilson, you will find it hard not to want to visit.
https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Wilsons-Cabinet-Wonder-Technology/...
The book "Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder" about the museum is a good read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Wilson%27s_Cabinet_of_Wond... Recommend reading it after visiting, don't want to spoil the first journey into the Jurassic.
https://laist.com/news/los-angeles-activities/museum-of-jura... We almost lost it, a fire nearly destroyed it.
I once explained to a friend as "imagine Umberto Eco made a museum when he was drunk, and he was a mean drunk."
I believe the Icelandic Phallological Museum fits the bill! https://www.phallus.is/
My friend from school days, who is into a digging up lot of WWII stuffs, have a museum in a remote corner of India. Backed by Japan, and the local government, it is located near to other Japanese related location in Imphal, Manipur (INDIA).
Here are some pictures I took while visiting it some time before the official opening. I think I got some of the Indian Currency printed by the Japanese during the war. I might also have copies of some videos from during that time (I think the 40s-50s).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gao3hq1qYsgNBnzy6
Official Website https://imphalpeacemuseum.com/
I really liked the American Precision Museum in Windsor, Vermont when I went to visit. https://americanprecision.org/
It's a fantastic museum and featured a bit in Stewart Brand's Maintenance of Everything (https://books.worksinprogress.co/book/maintenance-of-everyth...).
Can't wait to read this. His 1995 book, "How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built," is excellent.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Buildings-Learn-Happens-Theyre/dp...
I'm a bit surprised that here in Boston, the nearest museum listed is in New York.
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is in Amherst, MA and quite excellent.
It's only museums I've visited myself. I actually do have a draft entry in the works about the Glass Flowers at the Harvard Natural History Museum, I should finish and publish that!
I think the site is compiled by one person. If you look at the map (https://www.niche-museums.com/map) it's heavily biased towards the southern UK and the SF Bay Area.
There is or was a Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in Boston.
https://museumofbadart.org/history/
Corning NY has a Glass museum that is run by the Corning Glass Company (company that makes iPhone glass). Which is pretty cool, if you are ever in that area.
Musee Champollion in Figeac, France about Champollion and his deciphering of the hieroglyphs and deciphering of ancient texts generally
If you're ever in Wisconsin - House on the Rock and the Mustard Museum.
Museum of World Religion https://www.mwr.org.tw/mwr_en
There's also the beautiful harp museum in Bruges https://www.visitbruges.be/en/things-to-do/culture-and-herit...
The UK entrant to Eurovision Song contest, Look mum, no computer, runs a museum!
And it looks perfect for the site, I'm hoping I can visit next time I'm back in the UK.
Another addition to list: Indian Music Experience Museum - https://indianmusicexperience.org
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