5 Case Study 1 - Leicester Research Archive - University of Leicester

There is also another dimension to the two podcasts, which differentiates them
from each other. Although Antenna Audio produces it, the gallery drives the
content of the programme. Since it is in the interest of the NG to present the
show in its best light, is highly unlikely that Antenna Audio, the producers of the
podcast, will interview people who are taking a very critical view on the show. It
is therefore a lot more convincing when the art critic of the Sunday Times
emphasises that the Velazquez exhibition is “the exhibition of the year,” in
comparison to the reporter who says in the NG’s podcast that it “is the most
stunning exhibition!” Hence, there is also a question of trust and reliability. If
museums interview their own curators to talk about their own shows, it seems
fair to say, that they would have to do more than merely saying to each other
how great the show is, and how much effort the gallery has put into the
preparations of the show.
Extending an exhibition
With their series of podcasts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art provides their
users additional content, interviews and background information on exhibitions.
In this respect one could say that the podcast serves to extend the exhibition
beyond its physical space. As of February 2007, they had 11 special exhibition
podcasts, which took a number of different approaches. For their ‘Vincent Van
Gogh – The Drawings’ show, they created a sixteen minute programme where
Hollywood actor Kevin Bacon read out a selection of letters written by Van
Gogh to his brother Theo. In these letters Van Gogh mentions the drawings,
which were the subject of the exhibition, a number of times. In this respect they
offered listeners another type of context in which to see the works. For the
‘Hatshepsut – From Queen to Pharao,’ exhibition, the Met produced a
programme similar to the one mentioned above. The exhibition showed objects
excavated by the Museum’s Egyptian Expedition in the 1920s and 1930s are
supplemented by loans from other American and European museums, as well as
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