The City Reliquary
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
About the Museum
•
The museum collection displays thoughtfully
arranged artifacts of New York City’s rich
history, which entice viewers to learn more
about the five boroughs.
•
Some of the highlights of the collection
include architectural remnants of city
buildings, Statue of Liberty
memorabilia, a geological display of
New York’s underground composition
and a 1939 World’s Fair Exhibit.
The City Reliquary also celebrates
local character by displaying the
unique findings of New York-based
collectors.
•
Winter hours of operation are:
Saturday & Sunday 12:00 to 6:00 PM
Located at 370 Metropolitan Ave. (at Havemeyer & N 5th St.)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
A community Museum
•
The City Reliquary has the distinction of
being a window museum. People in the
community pass it daily on their way to and
from the subway, the grocery, or the coffee
shop, or they stumble across it when they're
walking home from work via a different
route. It is either an integrated part of their
daily landscape, or a personal discovery. In
either case, passersby are offered a kind of
ownership that major institutions strive for in
their public relations campaigns, but rarely
achieve. We aim to be a humble but
effective hub, of many sorts - historical,
cultural, and social. We offer historical
displays of modest ephemera - bits of
bridges, old postcards, etc. We organize
events - Collector's Night, Bike Fetish Day,
September 11 Memorials, Bike Rides,
Writing Contests. We've also started a
community mini-garden movement in old
bathtubs in front of our windows, and we
broadcast a monthly radio show through a
local internet station. We post
neighborhood-related political information,
and in general act as "the water cooler" of
the neighborhood.
MISSION
• A central part of our
mission is to plan and
host public events,
which provide
neighbors and visitors
with a place to meet,
exchange ideas, and
celebrate the diversity
of our community.
What is a Reliquary?
• A reliquary (also referred to as
a shrine) is a container for
relics.
• These may be the physical
remains of saints, such as
bones, pieces of clothing, or
some object associated with
saints or other religious
figures. The authenticity of any
given relic is often a matter of
debate.
What is a Relic?
• a surviving memorial of something past.
• an object having interest by reason of its age or
its association with the past
• a surviving trace of something
• An object kept for its association, remembrance
with the past; a memento or souvenir.
Relics
What is a Manifesto?
• A manifesto is a public declaration of
principles and intentions. Manifestos are
often political in nature.
• In art it is a public declaration or exposition
in print of the theories and directions of a
movement. (can be thought of as an exhibition: a
collection of things (goods or works of art etc.) for public
display)
Manifesto on clothes
Manifesto on tank:
• “You Rock” on the front.
• The back of the tank has the LovethisLife “Manifesto”:
• LovethisLife . . . is about celebrating the moment and that we’re not
guaranteed or owed another day and how cool it is that what we
hide can actually be the fuel towards our glory and that it’s not so
bad being proven wrong. LovethisLife . . . is about welcoming the
blind turn and the possibility that there’s no such thing as
coincidence and that empathy is incredibly sexy and that it’s never
too late to pick up a guitar or a paintbrush or to make an amend or
to make a new friend. Love this life . . . could be about rekindling a
past flame or igniting a new one or shape shifting from a dreamer to
a doer or savoring the caress of a love long gone. LovethisLife . . .
means whatever you want it to mean because LovethisLife . . . is a
celebration of you and your path. LovethisLife . . . ‘cuz it could go at
any second. You Rock.
Examples
• Can we brainstorm some ideas???