The 9/11 Memorial and Museum was the most emotionally, mentally and physically exhausting place I have ever been. Before arriving into the museum, the fountains set the mood and ominous aura, like a giant grave-tomb for the lost lives. As we entered the museum, we are welcomed with “airport security” , almost making me feel like they are already accusing everyone to be a terrorist or criminal. After security and going down to the lobby, you are introduced with a large mural of the date and projections to pillars that show images from that day. Heading another floor down, it makes the visitor go in a specific pattern because as you head down the stairs, the first exhibition is the memorial part of the museum, which sets the context of the museum. Inside, portraits of all the victims surround the exhibition and there are touch screens that you can scroll through and see in-depth of the person. Once done, the visitor can venture off to to the other tower, exhibiting the events and a play-by-play of everything that happened and being very blunt about it.
Overall, I noticed that the only thing interactive in the museum were the touch screens. Other than that, people had the museum habit in them where everything was a “See but No Touch” attitude and people would crowd around video installations rather than regular signs. I did not see many people cry from these videos but I suddenly noticed tissues placed nearby in every corner. I feel like the only reason why I did not cry was that I did not have any personal connection to the people in the incident nor was I even in the country. I also feel like the 9/11 Museum does not feel like a museum in my opinion. I feel like it is still too “recent”. Maybe I just have not visited enough museums but I just felt like, it invoked nostalgia rather than having an educational experience. Usually when you go to a museum, you associate museums with the act of learning (or at least I do), but because I remember the news and what happened, I felt like it was more looking back on memory lane instead. I’m sure in the future, it would be more “museum-like” because time has passed but right now, it just does not feel like that for myself.
