Why are our museums a bit crap?

SpaceCowb0y

Before anyone loses the head i take it that this might be a subjective statement but i've been to Natural history Museums all over the world and ours seems a bit shit by comparison.

Is it a budgetary thing or why is it that makes our pale by comparison to the museums in other capitals? I mean Dublin is a huge tourist destination so it can't be for lack of footfall can it? And if it is, surely by improving the exhibitions and displays it would give the museums a boost and encourage people to visit!

The London museum is a huge building full of interesting collections and exhibitions for kids and adults to enjoy alike. You can be in and out of the museum in Dublin in a half hour and have seen everything (which isn't much). There's not a lot there to capture the minds of anyone IMO.

The wax museum is a joke too, i brought my girlfriend's daughter a few weeks ago and the models are all heavily out dated people that she had no idea of! what was the point of investing and moving location only to keep the exact same models (some of which have been on display since the 80s i think) and not bring in a bit more life to the place with some modern day celebs etc?

I'll give credit where credit is due though the National Gallery is a fine building with some great collections to see.

Dr Crayfish

You just can't compare the museums of Dublin with the former colonial Empire of Great Britain, not for a second.
TBH I was never too keen on the Natural History Museum in London, I honestly prefer the little one in Dublin, nice and compact. The V&A is my favourite museum in the world, but we just don't have the same history or money for these things.
The new National Art Gallery on Merrion Square is seriously impressive.

Dyr

Here's a clue: the wax museum is not a museum, its a commercial enterprise

Simple stuff

fly_agaric

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

Is it a budgetary thing or why is it that makes our pale by comparison to the museums in other capitals?

You've mentioned a few different sorts of "museum", and of course comparing Dublin to London for this is not that fair, but yes it is a budgetary thing IMO. Budgets for the national museums (Natural History is one of them) were never great & cut more during the bust. It is bit sad, but Dublin + its businesses seems to be thronged with tourists spending their money anyway, so doubt the people who run the place (or most of the public) care.

Thinking of Dublin specific museums, the council used to run a Dublin city history museum in city hall but I think that is gone a very long time; never heard why it shut as was small, but interesting enough. Only "Dublin" specific museum now is the "Little museum" (commercial I think, like the Wax museum).

5rtytry56

Because such establishments have high insurance premium.
For the likes of the accident a number of years ago where a n ancient stairwell collapsed with a number of visitors on it in the Natural history museum.why the stairwell had'nt been replaced and ago ....This is ireland

I love the natural history museum. It's a great building and the collection is fascinating. Yes it's a time machine but I think that's kind of the point at this stage.

The National Museum has some interesting stuff as well, particularly the bog bodies.

As others have already said it's silly to compare with London, museums like the V&A and British Museum are some of the best and biggest in the world.

SpaceCowb0y

All fair points... and yes i know the Wax "Museum" isn't museum but its in the same bracket of tourist attraction that you find in most major cities and could at least benefit by a little updating of its inventory surely. I also understand we can't compare to the wealth of the British empire but you would think that between all the museums worldwide they could all benefit by sharing exhibitions even if it meant paying in to see them (which has happened in the past but extremely rarely for anything worthwhile). The Natural History Museum in Dublin has been the same since I was in primary school (long ago).

I know we are a small country but as i said Dublin is a big tourist destination. i've been to museums around Europe and they seem to be better maintained and updated in general. The Guggenheim in Bilbao comes to mind, that's impressive and I wouldn't consider that a more popular destination than Dublin.

ongarite

But Bilbao has the riches and blundering from the Spanish Empire to display.
Same for UK, Portuguese and French.

If you were an empire you took all the cool **** back to your people to impress with and fund another expedition or empire expansion.

minikin

We have the best wax museum in Europe, th'others can't hold a candle to it.

miamee

fly_agaric wrote: »

Thinking of Dublin specific museums, the council used to run a Dublin city history museum in city hall but I think that is gone a very long time; never heard why it shut as was small, but interesting enough. Only "Dublin" specific museum now is the "Little museum" (commercial I think, like the Wax museum).

I think that exhibition is still there, entrance is the doorway facing onto Barnardo Square there, there's a cafe in there too. I haven't been in in many years but I believe it's still there. Link.

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

All fair points... and yes i know the Wax "Museum" isn't museum but its in the same bracket of tourist attraction that you find in most major cities and could at least benefit by a little updating of its inventory surely. I also understand we can't compare to the wealth of the British empire but you would think that between all the museums worldwide they could all benefit by sharing exhibitions even if it meant paying in to see them (which has happened in the past but extremely rarely for anything worthwhile). The Natural History Museum in Dublin has been the same since I was in primary school (long ago).

I know we are a small country but as i said Dublin is a big tourist destination. i've been to museums around Europe and they seem to be better maintained and updated in general. The Guggenheim in Bilbao comes to mind, that's impressive and I wouldn't consider that a more popular destination than Dublin.

I'm sure history hasn't changed much since you were a nipper SpaceCowb0y

Epic in CHQ is one of the more impressive museums in the capital though there are one or two new ones that I have yet to visit (GPO Witness History, Richmond Barracks, newly renovated National Gallery, Tenement Museum - when it opens). I think at this stage the outdated antiquity of the Natural History Museum is part of it's attraction
I still enjoy a rable around the National History Museum, it still attracts large numbers of tourist visitors.

fly_agaric

miamee wrote: »

I think that exhibition is still there, entrance is the doorway facing onto Barnardo Square there, there's a cafe in there too. I haven't been in in many years but I believe it's still there. Link.

Thanks for that, thought it closed a few years ago.

Del2005

ongarite wrote: »

But Bilbao has the riches and blundering from the Spanish Empire to display.
Same for UK, Portuguese and French.

If you were an empire you took all the cool **** back to your people to impress with and fund another expedition or empire expansion.

What would all the impressive museums look like if they had to return the items blundered from other countries. Like if the Greek's got their marbles back or all the mummies were returned to Egypt etc a lot of museums would be spartan.

otnomart

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

You can be in and out of the museum in Dublin in a half hour and have seen everything (which isn't much).

That was not my experience: I spent at last a couple of hours each in Collins Barracks, the National Museum and the National Gallery. They really have valuable and extensive collections.
The Hugh Lane is smaller but again has valuable collections.
And so does the Chester Beatty.

L1011

One thing is because they're mostly free or dirt cheap in which most museums elsewhere aren't - the UK big ones being free is only fairly recent; the V&A used to mug you for a "voluntary donation" that was very difficult to not pay for instance.

Even with that - try get around either of the National Museum branches in 30 minutes!

server down

Dublin does pretty well for its size. Throwing the magic word “capital” around doesn’t change the size or importance of the city.

And we don’t get a lot of tourists in comparison to most European countries. European countries are amongst the most visited places on Earth. Italy, France, Spain even the UK get 50-70M tourists.

Dank Janniels

Was it the wax museum that had a tunnel maze in the wall? School tour there over 20years ago and think we had more craic in that than looking at the statues. I rember the teacher giving out to us for laughing how sh*te they were!!

L1011

Two locations ago yeah - when it was where the Parnell Maldron is now

wakka12

server down wrote: »

Dublin does pretty well for its size. Throwing the magic word “capital” around doesn’t change the size or importance of the city.

And we don’t get a lot of tourists in comparison to most European countries. European countries are amongst the most visited places on Earth. Italy, France, Spain even the UK get 50-70M tourists.

Ireland overall doesn't get as many tourists as those countries but Dublin is well well up there in terms of tourist numbers in comparison to the major cities in those countries.
Dublin is regularly in the list of top 10-20 most visited cities in europe

I don't know why they come here tbh. Feel a bit bad for them . We make absolutely zero effort to make dublin nice for them, city looks a shambles

cgcsb

Well the wax museum isn't a museum for a start. Comparing the natural history in London to that of Dublin is a tad unfair. London museums are almost exclusively populated by artifacts that they stole from other countries.

Go to national gallery on Merrion Square, a genuinely fantastic space. If you ask me it's better than the louvre. Go to the Naitonal Museum in Collins Barracks, there you'll find the most fantastic collection of ancient Chinese, a lot of Eileen Grey stuff and a whole host of other fascinating articles. Dublin also has some fantastic smaller exhibition spaces go see City Hall and marvel at the dome, then go downstairs to see the exhibition which gives you Dublin's entire history in a nut shell. I'd highly recommend any tourist do this, very educational.

Have you ever been to Kilmainham Prison? probably not because it's booked out for weeks in advance. I did manage to get a tour once, absolutely top class. While you're in that area check out the Modern Art Museum at the Royal Hospital and take some snaps of their formal gardens, really beautiful.

pinkypinky

As others have said, the wax museum is not a state-run organisation so it really cannot be compared. I think it's an old-fashioned concept from a time when mass media didn't include following celebs on instagram. I do remember getting stuck in the tunnel in the old wax museum as a child though.

I like the Natural History Museum as it is, partly because it is a museum of old style museums as well as animals. The last time I went, I was there an hour but could easily have spent longer if there were kids with me.

NGI and Collins Barracks are first-class spaces worthy of multiple visits, which we can do because they're free. Incidentally, that's a legacy of British rule.

artanevilla

London also has over twice the population of our WHOLE COUNTRY. I despair when people compare our infrastructure etc. to that of the UK, they have over ten times our population.

megaten

Its only really the natural history museum thats a bit crap. The others are good and the Hugh lane in particular is amazing for such a small museum.

humberklog

I like the Natural History Museum because it's like stepping back into Victorian times, maybe that's how they should be pitching it?

I'm not mad on Collins Barracks, it's a bit all over the place imo.

IMMA's location prevents a lot of people visiting it regularly. It should be moved to a central location (I thought Central Bank would've been great).

Top job done on the National Gallery and The Hugh Lane is a cracker.

I could never figure out how was museums were popular.

John_Rambo

wakka12 wrote: »

I don't know why they come here tbh. Feel a bit bad for them

I do. They want to experience a city unlike other cities. That’s the beauty of cities, they’re all different.

It’s not Kildare village. It’s not a specifically built, sanitised tourist or shopping destination. It’s a proper, busy, hard working European city steeped in history and culture with a working port. There’s going to be a dirty underbelly, there always is. The majority of tourists love Dublin and often come back.

Maybe try becoming a tourist in Dublin yourself and learn something from them about your own capital.

Cienciano

Every wax museum in the world is shít. So Dublin is no different there.

Dyr

Word.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2014/jan/08/worlds-worst-wax-museum-in-pictures

wakka12

John_Rambo wrote: »

I do. They want to experience a city unlike other cities. That’s the beauty of cities, they’re all different.

It’s not Kildare village. It’s not a specifically built, sanitised tourist or shopping destination. It’s a proper, busy, hard working European city steeped in history and culture with a working port. There’s going to be a dirty underbelly, there always is. The majority of tourists love Dublin and often come back.

Maybe try becoming a tourist in Dublin yourself and learn something from them about your own capital.

I know lots about Dublin thanks very much. I like it personally, I don't think its pretty compared to many other european cities though, we demolished the vast majority of our historical heritage over the last 80 years, weathers bad, poor transport, and extremely expensive
I like living in Dublin, I never said I thought it was ****, but I do not understand why tourists, particularly americans would travel so far to come here.
Even more so as many of the areas that are most beautiful in Dublin like Blessington, Glasnevin, phoenix park and many nice coastal villages are not set foot on by most tourists
Im not putting dublin down Im just sincerely wondering what is attracting the tourists, given the small part of the city centre they stay almost exclusively within
Id say a lot of tourists don't even go as far as parnell square

Dr Crayfish

wakka12 wrote: »

I know lots about Dublin thanks very much. I like it personally, I don't think its pretty compared to many other european cities though, we demolished the vast majority of our historical heritage over the last 80 years, weathers bad, poor transport, and extremely expensive
I like living in Dublin, I never said I thought it was ****, but I do not understand why tourists, particularly americans would travel so far to come here.
Even more so as many of the areas that are most beautiful in Dublin like Blessington, Glasnevin, phoenix park and many nice coastal villages are not set foot on by most tourists
Im not putting dublin down Im just sincerely wondering what is attracting the tourists, given the small part of the city centre they stay almost exclusively within
Id say a lot of tourists don't even go as far as parnell square

I love living here too but can't really see why tourists would want to visit here. I suppose it's because I'm from here and I take everything for granted. I wish I could put on tourist glasses or something to see it from an outside perspective.
There are definitely good bars and restaurants, something you can't take for granted in all cities.
I was in Boston recently, and found it incredibly dull and not nice to look at at all. No life in the place at night either, at least downtown. I worked in Indianapolis for a while once and it's even worse than Boston. Don't get me started on Calgary, Alberta...
I can see why Dublin would seem like a great place to visit for someone from that neck of the woods.

humberklog

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

I love living here too but can't really see why tourists would want to visit here. I suppose it's because I'm from here and I take everything for granted.

I think there's a lot of that.

I've a shop in south city and deal with a lot of tourists every day. It's sort of art gallery so there's time to chat. Every visitor, whether tourists, business or accidental tourists they all rave about it. There's a lot of activities they do in the day that I've never even heard of and there's loads of day trips/overnight trips out of town that they seem to love.

What really strikes them is the friendliness and fun of the locals (be that foreign people that live here too). As for the junkies and beggars we see and (rightly) complain about that's often met with a shrug and they say "we have it too". For couples and groups of friends it's the evening time that really makes it for them. From being entertained with music in Temple Bar on a Tuesday night or drinking with locals in friendly bars across the city.
A lot of cities don't have this and can be fairly boring in the evening especially Sunday to Thursday (and yes I have visited and lived in quite a few).

I don't really get it either but in 8 years I've heard 2 people out of thousands have a moan (both times was about prices and both times they mentioned Temple Bar). We get loads of return visitors too. So many have said once you come once you'll come again.
And surprisingly with people travelling through Europe (Aussies, US, Canadian etc.) Dublin always ranks top of their list.
Last week I'd one unfortunate young American who was mugged in Brussels and scammed in London. Dublin was the only good thing about his Euro experience.

John_Rambo

wakka12 wrote: »

I know lots about Dublin thanks very much. I like it personally, I don't think its pretty compared to many other european cities though, we demolished the vast majority of our historical heritage over the last 80 years, weathers bad, poor transport, and extremely expensive
I like living in Dublin, I never said I thought it was ****, but I do not understand why tourists, particularly americans would travel so far to come here.
Even more so as many of the areas that are most beautiful in Dublin like Blessington, Glasnevin, phoenix park and many nice coastal villages are not set foot on by most tourists
Im not putting dublin down Im just sincerely wondering what is attracting the tourists, given the small part of the city centre they stay almost exclusively within
Id say a lot of tourists don't even go as far as parnell square

The weather's bad? Coastal villages not set foot in by tourists? Tourists don't go as far as Parnell square? Vast majority of historical heritage destroyed? Bad transport for Tourists?

Are you living in a bubble?

Have you done the CIE hop on, hop off bus tour? Or one of the others? A cycle tour? The coastal tour? Have you got the DART to Howth, Malahide, Dalkey, Greystones, Killiney, Bray? Have you done an architectural tour? It's no wonder you can't understand what's attracting tourists! They do stuff you don't know exists!

4068ac1elhodqr

Museums after 2020 will generally become immersive VR & AR based delivery events.