Behind the Scenes: Barong Ket

• Behind the Scenes tag
• News tag

• Post Date: 01/16/2003
• Reading Time: 2 minute read

The barong ket was hoisted into place almost 30 feet off the main floor on Wednesday, January 15th by a crew of UIUC Ironworkers. The planning and execution of this installation was a challenging effort that pooled together the expertise and experience of all involved.

The prospect of receiving the barong ket mask presented a series of challenges for the Collections Section of the Spurlock Museum. Because the barong ket is such a dramatic and exciting artifact, staff members planned immediate installation into the Gallery of Asian Cultures. The Collections Section, with help from U of I’s Operations and Maintenance group, moved the artifact across town to our workroom in the museum where the artifact was cleaned and then cataloged by our Registration Section.

While the Barong Ket was being cleaned, a mount was designed for the item to go onto exhibit. The O&M Ironworkers shop built the base mount made of aluminum beams. The Collections Section outfitted this aluminum base mount with the proper padding and support. Once the artifact was properly fitted to its mount, it was rigged 30 feet in the air to its current position on display over the balcony in the Gallery of Asian Cultures.