Amineh Robinson

I absolutley love love loved this exhibit. I wish the museum would of given it more of the presence it deserved. It felt as though the TMA pushed it in a corner as an afterthought. It was definately tight quarters once you were inside the exhibit. When you walked in there was a large, from ceiling to floor, textile piece. This piece took up a bit of the doorway and a patron would have to move around it to get to one of the displays. Also, if you came with a stroller, walker or wheelchair- forget it. Because of the space restraints those who needed a tad bit extra room would have to skip this exhibit. If that were me I would of been unhappy.
The sawhorses that were crafted to house the display cases fit in perfectly with the books on display. The sawhorses themselves were rather large,add that togther with the small space and the space is even smaller now.Some of the information that was hung on the sawhorses might have been to high for some to comfortably read.
I found it interesting that many of the pieces were laying right out in the open with a small sign that said plese do not touch. If there has ever been a piece of artwork in an exhibition that I wanted to touch this was it. I would of just loved to run my fingers acroos those pages. The books laying there was just an invitation to ones fingers. Not sure what the TMA was thinking when they put those out there so freely with a tiny do not touch sign. Especially after one sees the video of Amineh flipping through the books herself. The way she handles them makes them seem very sturdy which might further invite one to touch.
I also found it very dark in the space. I realize there was a video playing. Which was a wonderful addition to the exhibit! But the dimmed lighting might make it difficult for some to read the info about each book. Was the dim lighting protecting the books? It's a possibility.
The hands on component was a nice touch. It however did not satisfy my desire to touch the books. It would of been nice if there was already a partial book put together for the patrons to add their page to. Instead of just asking them to leave a page.
For the record, I didn't touch the books.