Dashboard Week – Day 3: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dashboard Week – Day 3: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

On day three of Dashboard Week, we were tasked with downloading data from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) API and using it to create a dashboard in Tableau.

The first step was to connect Alteryx to the API and download the data. Fortunately, the MET provided clear documentation, making the process easy to follow. I used Postman to test the API calls and ensure everything was working correctly.

Next, I had to decide which area of the dataset to explore. Initially, I wanted to focus on artworks related to my home country, Brazil, but I could only find 17 pieces. As a result, I chose to compare art collections from Peru and Indonesia — the countries with the largest collections in the Africa, Americas, and Oceania department — focusing on their differences.

 

1 – Alteryx Workflow

 

This was the workflow used to download the data, with each container representing a step in the process. The first container downloads the department data, specifically the Americas, Africa, and Oceania department. The next step involves parsing the data and creating a URL to download the art objects. In the final two containers, the process is completed by downloading and parsing the data, transforming rows into columns, and selecting the relevant columns for analysis.

 

2 – Dashboard

 

 

There were 3 main findings:

 

Historical Timeline and Artistic Legacy: The MET’s collection reveals that Peruvian civilization is both older and more abundant in artifacts compared to Indonesian civilization. The existence of Peruvian pieces dating back thousands of years before Christ highlights its ancient cultural legacy, while most Indonesian artifacts are from around 1500.

Artistic Materials and Regional Resources: Geography played a crucial role in shaping artistic expression. Peruvian artifacts primarily feature metals like gold, silver, and bronze, while Indonesian art heavily relies on wood due to the country’s rainforest environment. Despite this difference, both civilizations share a common use of textiles.

Cultural Artifacts and Their Purpose: The artifacts’ functions reflect distinct societal structures and spiritual beliefs. Indonesian pieces often relate to warfare and ceremonial practices, while Peruvian artifacts emphasize social status, ritual offerings, and connection to nature gods. These differences highlight how cultural values are expressed through art.

 

Access the Dashboard in this link: The MET report