musuem observations

The Hall of Northwest Coast Indians, I believe the museum's oldest hall, feels as if it is separate from the rest of the halls. Apart from the scale of the totems, this hall seems very organic. There is a sense of peace that I have not noticed in other halls. The sage green walls, and the wood-carved totems and masks give a sense of what it must be like to stand next to such colossal trees in their natural environment. During the time I was there, not many museum-goers lingered in this hall. Most people walked on through, glancing at the objects as they continued on. This may be due in part to the lack of information about the objects in this hall. The lighting is also very poor and since there is little to no explanation or order of which totem belongs to which tribe, what the masks were used for, ect. it is hard to understand what you are looking at. I especially noticed the lack of description of the potlatch ceremony, it seemed as though it was added as an afterthought.
In comparison with the Margaret Mead Hall of Pacific People, the Hall of Northwest Coast Indians appears dated. The Hall of Pacific People is very organized, informative, and the map in the beginning of the exhibit was helpful in order to visualize where these objects came from. The lighting was better, the colors brighter, the exhibit seemed very new. I was particularly drawn to the Balinese shadow puppets. There was adequate information about everything on display, however, there were so many corners to turn, each side full of objects and information, it was a bit overwhelming. I liked the openness of the Hall of Northwest Coast Indians, I felt that it did justice to the objects, you could stand back and see the exhibit as a whole. Whereas with the Hall of Pacific People, it felt overwhelming, even cluttered. I think the Hall of Northwest Coast Indians would be much more effective if more information were added, but other than that, it was more effective than the Hall of Pacific People because of its utilization of space.