Invisible Artifacts
Smithsonian
9% on view
10 of the 32
institutions publicly
share the visibility
status of
their artifacts
Each pinnacle
corresponds to
one institution
The above
institutions have
between 2% and
53% on view
Museums are known for cataloging, preserving, and storing
historical artifacts found across the world. As time progresses,
the collections continue to grow and these museums boast
about the thousands and millions of artifacts stored in their
collections. This means that when visiting museums, viewers
are only seeing the tip of the iceberg, while the vast majority of
the collections are stored out of sight and therefore, potentially
out of mind. Use the graphic to explore the status of 8 of the
Smithsonian’s collections.