🟩 Summary

Welcome

Welcome to the Parrot Museum. The museum houses a vast collection of parrot art and parrot artefacts and is free to all visitors.

The parrot has been at man's side, serving him in peace and war for thousands of years and has long earned his place in history. Man's partnership with this incredible creature deserves to be recorded and celebrated in its own museum.

The museum is a place, devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of parrots having scientific, historical, or artistic value. Dedicated to the parrot in all its inspiration, mythology, application, suffrage and history.

The Museum is continually adding to its collection and a selection of masterpieces can also be browsed.

No Knowledge At All

Many times we mistake art museums for the places where learnedness or high culture would be found. An inaccessible place for most people.

But we must have in mind that art can be found everywhere. Not only do we find art in museums, but also in the zoos or in churches, the streets, our homes, fairs, anywhere.

But we also bear in mind that in order to visit the parrot museum we have to be duly prepared. Having some cultural knowledge, remembering names of famous parrot paintings, being able to make a distinction between different parrot species.

However, if we enter the parrot museum and have no knowledge at all about parrots, macaws and cockatoos, or if we enter the museum and have no idea about the art pieces were going to see, we shouldn’t be afraid or feel unconfident.

What, If Anything, Is A Parrot?

Understanding parrot art in its totality is almost an impossible task for a human being. There are many special category’s in parrot art to be understood. And these are not definitive in nature.

What are the relevant factors in parrot art? Usually very many.

Polly Studies Visual Arts 

Inside pictures there are big ideas which gives the image its power. The stronger the image the more compelling the meta ideas held within it.

The museum learned this first hand while working on this project since winter 1980. We were asking questions about parrot culture in the context of Western European art, culture and life. 

The images that we stumbled across ran the gamut from, Eloquence, Exotic, Foolishness, Old Salt, Sanguine, Senses, The Christ Spirit, and Vibrant. We also brought in images from a more global perspective such as Amity and Sensuality, that pointed to our larger human experience. 

We pulled pictures from many different sources and ended up with around a 4000 that we culled down to 30 sections. This became the Parrot Museum that we expose, on the internet, for people to connect to and ponder over.

Polly Studies Literature 

The purpose of the research of the parrot museum is to examine big issues in parrot literature. 

There is great potential for research on parrots. Parrots have the advantage of being able to speak, and, as a result, capable of a greater diversity of responses than elephants, cats and other species.

The plan of the research will be to set forth how each artist spins tales around the confrontation of the parrot with the human world, and to discuss ways in which their stories anchored in fantasy carry themes of real world concerns.

Tag Cloud  2.2 

• Amity: Companionship, Togetherness, Intimacy, Peaceful harmony

• Eloquence: Fluent, Articulate, Expressive, Silver-tongued, Persuasive in speaking

• Exile: Enforced removal from one’s native country or, self-imposed absence from one’s country

• Exotic: Originating in or characteristic of a distant foreign country

• Foolishness: Stupidity, Lack of intelligence, Brainlessness, Ignorance

• Old Salt: An experienced sailor, especially a sailing sailor or pirate

• Rogue: Schobbejak, Rascal, Knave, Naughty boy, Scoundrel, Baddie, Good for nothing

• Sanguine: Optimistic, Bullish, Hopeful, Buoyant, Positive, Confident, Cheerful, Cheery

• Senses: One of the faculties of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch

• Sensuality: The enjoyment, expression, or pursuit of physical, esp. sexual, pleasure

• The Christ spirit: Feeling or showing deep and solemn respect

• Vibrant: Colorful, Vivid, Brilliant, Radiant, Rich, Graphic, Lively, Animated, Dramatic, Fascinating, Interesting, Stimulating, Scintillating, Evocative

• Vocal Mimicry: The action or art of imitating someone or something, typically in order to entertain, ridicule or moralise 

Parrot Iconography: Symbolism and Subtext

The use of symbols allows the artist to pack a lot of information into a small space. Unless an artwork makes visual sense, peeling the layers of meaning in its iconography and iconology is pointless. But in a fine painting, appreciating its symbolic implications can make viewing it even more engaging. 

Why bother with all this symbolism and subtext?

We can count upon a summation of good results. The theory is still under construction. There was already a previous attempt during the decade of the 1980s, but now we have an innovative point of view, which we’re attempting to prove. This is a long term collective project.

What period or periods of time should the Museum focus on? Should the Museum’s scope be limited to parrot history or go beyond that, to parrot politics, for example? Should the Museum be involved long term in the preservation of parrot records and serve as a research facility? Should the Museum be in the business of collecting, storing and preserving parrot artefacts? What is the meaning or some purpose other than a museum? Should the structure remain in its present configuration?

Mission Statement

The Parrot Museum is committed to educating the general public, artistic, and academic communities about the relationship between man and the parrot throughout history and the world.

The Parrot Museum will educate the public about the history of the relationship between man and the parrot and of the roles of the parrot in contemporary society through engaging exhibitions, publications and educational programs as well as through the collection and conservation of pertinent artifacts. 

The Parrot Museum programs will be available to more visitors than ever through modern technology, and it is anticipated that visitors will seek to be more involved in the parrot industry through improved communication and innovative partnerships. Through its library, archive, and permanent collections, the Museum will also be a source of opportunities for research and scholarship in parrot studies.

Gratitude

The generosity received from our many friends and benefactors allows the Parrot Museum to continue its mission to developing awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the fine and visual parrot arts and their impact on our culture. 

Please feel free to contact us at the Parrot Museum with any useful information, comments or questions you may have.

Curated by Papegaaienmuseum Borstel & Kort.