What Galleries Keep and Who Decided · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Whose art hangs in the museum

Arts & Music · Visual Art · ages 15-16
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which task is part of a curator's work on an exhibition?

    • Choosing works and explaining them through labels
    • Repairing flaking paint with conservation tools
    • Setting daily ticket sales targets and cash totals

  2. Which pair names two ways a work can enter a museum's collection?

    • Being described in a review and praised by a critic
    • Being shown in a photo and mentioned in a lecture
    • Being bought by the museum and donated as a gift

  3. In some Western museums, classing work as craft or folk art contributed to its exclusion from fine-art displays.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. In the hypothetical mask dispute, which argument could a supporter of keeping the object at the museum offer?

    • The museum offers care, study and public access
    • A large audience proves the source community consented
    • Any object kept for many years becomes fairly acquired

  5. In a hypothetical dispute, records show that a mask was taken from a temple without its community's consent. Which argument supports return?

    • Keep it abroad because that is where more people visit
    • Treat today's display label as proof of a lawful sale
    • Return control to the community that did not consent

  6. A period's records list artists A, B and C. A gallery wall about that period shows only A. What can you conclude?

    • The wall proves the omitted artists made no work then
    • The wall omits artists who appear in the records
    • The records must describe people from a different era

  7. Removing a curator's name from labels removes the effects of their selection choices.

    Circle one:   True   False

  8. Records show that a mask was taken without consent. A museum gives visitor totals as its only reason to keep it. Which question best tests that reason?

    • Could a new display label make the visitor count much larger?
    • Could return allow access while restoring community control?
    • Could a higher ticket price establish that consent was given?
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Whose art hangs in the museum W1-mt_xT1-Eojyb5-s1

  1. Choosing works and explaining them through labels · Curators help select and interpret works. Paint treatment is conservation work; daily ticket sales are an administrative task.
  2. Being bought by the museum and donated as a gift · A museum can acquire a work by purchasing it or receiving it as a gift. Publicity about a work does not itself transfer it into a collection.
  3. True · Classification helped determine what entered fine-art displays. Exclusion from those displays does not establish that the work lacked value.
  4. The museum offers care, study and public access · Care, study and access are reasons a supporter might offer. They require evidence and do not establish consent to the original taking.
  5. Return control to the community that did not consent · The return argument connects the documented lack of consent with restoring the source community's control.
  6. The wall omits artists who appear in the records · B and C appear in the period's records but not on the wall. The display is a selection; this evidence alone does not explain the curator's reasons.
  7. False · The choices about works, arrangement and interpretation remain in place. Leaving the curator unnamed does not undo those decisions.
  8. Could return allow access while restoring community control? · Comparing access at both locations tests whether keeping the mask is needed for that benefit. The comparison must also consider the documented lack of consent.
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