Richmond Proper: On Museum Etiquette

A recent trip to a museum got me thinking about museum etiquette, and what special rules ought to be observed when visiting our fair city’s bastions of art and antiquities.

January 12, 2010; 12:00 PM • by Tess Shebaylo

A recent trip to a museum got me thinking about museum etiquette, and what special rules ought to be observed when visiting our fair city’s bastions of art and antiquities.

Talking

Funny how museums tend to be in the most echoey spaces imaginable, with those pesky marble floors and big, open spaces. Something you may not have realized is that your voice really carries in a space like this. This means that three galleries to the west, someone can probably hear you yelling at your kids about how they’re not getting any ice cream later. It’s a given that you’ll have some legitimate reasons for needing to talk in a museum, like calling a friend over to a particularly interesting display, or making a relevant comment on the subject matter. This talk should be relegated to hushed tones, so that everyone can enjoy the museum without distraction. And for those of you who are pained by folks who think a museum is a circus, keep in mind that the best thing to do is “move to another room and return when quiet prevails,” as Judith Martin suggests.

Looking

Most of what happens in a museum is looking: reading placards, taking in the sight of a beautiful painting, etc. Keep in mind that you’re not the only person looking, and be considerate of fellow museum-goers. Move along at a decent pace, taking your time to look at a given object but not planting yourself in front of it firmly for hours. If the space is tight and you need to get by someone, say “excuse me” and try not to jostle them. Don’t touch the exhibits unless they say specifically to do so, and don’t stand so close to display cases that your breath fogs them up. When you see a popular exhibit that has attracted a crowd, wait at the edge of the crowd until it starts to move you into its view. If it’s the kind of crowd that won’t move unless you throw an elbow, come back later or just ignore it. It isn’t worth becoming a wild animal.

Touring

When on a tour of a museum or historical site, there are a few extra considerations to apply. Keep up with the group so that the docent doesn’t have to stop to wait for you to catch up. If your baby starts crying, take him outside for a few minutes, quiet him down, and rejoin the tour. If you have a question, wait until the speaker pauses before asking, instead of interrupting his or her sentence when you blurt it out. Try to ask questions that are pretty easy to answer in a few words rather than in a 15-page treatise. If you need more in-depth information, perhaps you can pull the docent aside after the tour and have a more specialized conversation. “Pay attention to the tour leader’s descriptions and explanations,” says Emily Post’s Etiquette. “Talking over the leader or conversing with someone else is rude.”

January 12, 2010 12:00 PM 2