Alice and Wonderland and Darth Vader

Alice in Wonderland Museum? Darth Vader Gallery? (Alice by John Tenniel on Wikimedia Commons; Darth Vader by gtartwork, CC BY 3.0 on DeviantArt)

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk spoke at the Getty Center as part of our Art of Writing series this month. While the auditorium was full and the audience rapt, there was an exciting parallel conversation over on Twitter.

We recently published a post about Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence in Istanbul, an unusual institution dedicated to the artifacts of a character from his 2008 book, also called The Museum of Innocence, named Kemal Basmaci. Pamuk’s museum for the fictional Kemal contains everyday items like cigarette butts, family photos, coins, and knick-knacks that the author spent years gathering as he envisioned and created his character.

So on Twitter, we asked you this question: If you were to create a museum inspired by a novel or a fictional character, what would it be?

And so many of you responded. For hours! Here’s a sample of the books or characters nominated on Twitter for their own museum, and our (silly) guesses at what artifacts might be on display:

  • A Darth Vader museum—The sound of breathing would greet you in the lobby
  • A Clockwork Orange—A soundtrack of Beethoven’s 9th playing throughout the galleries
  • The Great Gatsby—Lavish dinnerware, silk gloves, Champagne bottles, jazz
  • To Kill a Mockingbird—Boo Radley’s front porch
  • Winnie-the-Pooh—Jars of honey, obviously
  • Brave New World—Bottles of soma
  • Lord of the Rings—Elf shoes, hobbit pants, and of course, in a very guarded vitrine: the one true RING
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray—Rooms overstuffed with rare books, exotic perfumes, jewels, and art objects. In an attic room, a hideous painting
  • Moby Dick—Scrimshaw, harpoons, doubloons; the museum would, of course, be on a boat
  • Pride and Prejudice—Letters, sealing wax, hair ribbons, tea sets, embroidery, a harpsichord, tears

Other authors and characters suggested on Twitter included Italo Calvino, Homer, Alice Walker, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Thomas Pynchon, David Mitchell, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Jose Luis Borges, Roald Dahl, Mary Shelley, and many more.

Add your suggestion: What book would you like to see become a museum?

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