We use the past tense version "American, born Sweden", and try to be
fairly consistent with it.

 

But I've got a related question:  Does this affect what you consider to
be the culture of the object, then?  We made an almost arbitrary
decision that the culture of the object had to match the nationality of
the artist.  We use the geography fields to denote where the object was
made.  Alfred Stieglitz only makes "American" objects, even when he has
taken pictures in France

 

This hasn't been completely satisfactory, as we have British
photographers who have worked all of their lives in Japan, but who have
maintained their British nationality.  Should these be considered
"British" pictures or "Japanese"?  Putting "British and Japanese" as the
culture seems a little strange.

 

David

 

From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Moxley, Jeri
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 3:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: dual-nationality

 

Our standards include both options, on an artist-by-artist basis,
regularly reviewed for consistency by my department, and reviewed by
curatorial chiefs once or twice a year.

 

For example, we have both: 

American, born Sweden

American and Swedish

 

Jeri

 

Jeri Moxley

Manager, Collection and Exhibition Technologies

Collection Management and Exhibition Registration

The Museum of Modern Art

11 West 53 Street, New York, NY 10019-5497

Tel. (212) 708-9599 Fax. (212) 333-1102

 

 

 

From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Milby, Jessica
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 4:24 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: dual-nationality

 

Hi folks...apologies if we've covered this recently...

 

Has anyone determined a standard for recording the nationality for
artists who are citizens of two countries and need to be noted as such?
We usually say for instance "American (born France)" but I have an
inquiry from a curator wanting the artist's display name to include a
dual nationality without the pesky past tense.

 

Thanks,

Jessica

 

______________________ 
Jessica Milby 
TMS Systems Manager 
Philadelphia Museum of Art 
Phone: 215-684-7283 
Fax: 215-235-0035 
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