I visited the Charleston Museum during spring break and it is probably the strangest museum space that I have ever been in. It primarily attracts visitors by claiming to be the “Oldest Museum in America,” and I would say that it is an artifact just as the objects within the museum walls. However, the contents of the museum are a disjointed glimpse into everything the museum has ever collected.The space is covered from top to bottom in a book-report fashion and does not have a easily recognizable curatorial focus or theme. Each wall label and text do not necessarily relate to those around it. The exhibition begins with artifacts of Homo Sapiens then to artifacts from South Carolina from the mid-1600s through the Second World War. After this loose chronological manner, the visitor is confused and somewhat shocked by the end of the exhibition which displays Egyptian antiquities alongside giraffe bones, a stuffed polar bear, fake lamassu statues, and notable pianos in the same room. Visitors experience the exhibition in a random, non-linear format, and although this may be exciting to some, it feels like an outdated museum overstuffed with dusty materials and labels without discretion. The museum could benefit from a renovation, such as the addition of new technological infrastructure and a reorganization of the exhibition space. (The website looks great but do not let that fool you.) http://www.charlestonmuseum.org/home
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