A
visit to the Museum's virtual Family History Theatre is imagined as thus:
The visitor, having already passed through the front
section of the Museum's first floor, through the Ellis
Island Room, enters the walkway leading to two small
bridges situated on both sides of the Museum. The
visitor then crosses over either bridge, both of which
span a small body of salt water that represents
symbolically the trans-Atlantic voyage that many of
our ancestors took as they left the towns of their birth
in hopes of making a new
beginning elsewhere.
As one arrives on the
other side of the "ocean," descending via the ramp on
the other end, they then enter the Museum's main salon
and exhibition hall. On the left side of the salon
one finds a large,
glass-enclosed structure that serves as the Museum's Family History
Theatre. The theatre is grand; the visitor begins his or
her
Theatre visit by ascending a ramp ever upward, passing through
the first floor level, then through the
second and upper levels, finally exiting onto the Museum's roof garden.
One may enter the Family
History Theatre on the first floor through either of two
doors, both of which lead into a darkened space, onto to
a graded ramp that ascends from one floor to the next
and then onto the roof. The double ramp exists in the
form of a spiral, the shape of a double helix,
representing a simple strand of DNA or human gene.
As one winds their way around this
walkway, they can look either to the right or left and
see, inset into the walls, the many video screens where one may
watch a short video, or hear a piece of audio that
represent different, current or permanent, exhibitions on
display within the Museum.
In a museum of "brick and
mortar," so to speak, one might need to use a headset with an infrared device
to hear what is being said in a video or sound clip. However,
as this is a virtual (internet-only) museum, the audio
or video most often would begin to play as soon as you turn toward
what is featured. Practically speaking, within your own visit
here, you simply could click on a link provided that
would take you along your journey. These will then take you to
various web pages that make up the Family History
Theatre itself.
The content of the
Theatre represents many of the exhibitions that
can be found within the Museum, i.e. those that have an
audio and/or video aspect to its presentation. The
exhibitions referred to will generally have more
audio-visual content than what has been selected for you
in the Family History Theatre. The Theatre simply yet
exquisitely provides the visitor
with a small but scintillating introduction to the Museum's multimedia
sites and thus demonstrates the Museum's unique interactivity. It
might also pique one's interest and compel one to visit many other
aspects of the Museum.
Please click on the "Exhibitions" link at the top of the
page to begin your tour. Enjoy! |
