Getting Museum Art Right at Your Fingertips

It is well known that if your client can hold the photograph, whether in an album or print, they are more likely to purchase it. They can feel it in a much more intimate way than just being on a computer screen. This idea was the very reason one photographer decided to step away from the traditional museum curation and create a pocket version that can be in the hands of art lovers everywhere. 

Dayanita Singh created a version to resemble an old family album after decades of being in exhibitions and museums. She wanted to have the art at the fingertips of the art world being able to touch it, smell it, and as she writes, hear it. "Instead of a brick-and-mortar space, her galleries are housed in a small box you can purchase at a bookstore," wrote the writers at NPR. These pocket museums are accordion albums that spread out to 7.5-foot-long. They contain black and white photographs from Singh's career. Singh is known for her work in defying the predictable Indian photograph with her take on the family lifestyle and architecture. Intimate spaces, private and quiet spaces fill these pocket museums.

She has always challenged the typical museum looks even prior to this project. Large cabinet structures that resembled room dividers housing the artwork are now located at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

These pocket museums are affordable to allow all art lovers the ability to see and feel the entire collection. Being able to walk around a museum and take in the history is part of the art experience. However, there is so much to be said about the ability to hold a piece of artwork in your hands rather than just on a wall.