To be or not to be..in a museum

An exercise in quick draw was run this morning in class. Erin showed us a slideshow of artifacts, one at a time, and asked us to make a snap decision on whether or not we believe they should be open to perusal by the general public in a museum. Some of the artifacts were actual human remains (ie the bog bodies) where others were what Western culture would consider just stuff (statues and clothing and the like). I'm almost 100% sure I answered "YES, SHOW THEM IN A MUSEUM!" for most (if not all) of the photos, even the skeletons. I love museums, especially the ones with exhibits so unfamiliar they shock and excite the system. Afterall, circus sideshows did exist for a reason.. (Hellooooooooo.. human curiosity! Duh.)

Stone T'xwelaste, photographed in a museum.

Afterwards, when we started discussing the artifacts within their own context the point of the exercise became apparent. The first artifact described was a stone statue that belonged to the Sto:lo Nation of Chilliwack, BC. It had been housed in a Seattle museum until around 6 years ago when the repatriation of the statue to its people was finally approved. You can read the short news story here. My initial reaction to the "Stone T'xwelaste" was that, though obviously culturally significant due to its impressive visual shape, it was just reworked rock. Replaceable. When we were told the actual cultural importance of the statue, I was completely offended by my own ignorance. The Sto:lo Nation believe that their founding male ancestor, T'xwelaste, is trapped within the stone. He was sentenced as such by the gods following a disagreement during the creation of the earth. The sculpture that I had dismissed as just another slab of rock was actually the unifying ties to an entire tribe's identity. Guilt and bashfulness ensue. I have to be honest, though - my desire to witness this artifact actually increased, though now I am fighting an internal struggle of ethics.

Most of my closest relationships are fueled by intelligent, thought provoking conversation and idea sharing. I am undeniably in full support of the propagation of knowledge and museums are a fantastic mode for this. By making the unfamiliar accessible to those that would otherwise have no opportunity, education and understanding can be shared widely and cross-culturally. Talk about solving world peace! Nooooot. I had never really considered how this can have the exact opposite effect and create animosity between groups of different beliefs. Wow. There life goes again, getting all complicated or whatever. But I digress.

I visited my younger sister in New York over the Christmas holidays. (Yeah, yeah, old news - been biding my time for some part of that trip to become relevant in this class haha). We took the free ferry over to Staten Island and back, and after the trip we killed some time (and warmed up) by wandering through a museum near the ferry station - an offshoot of the Smithsonian, the National Museum of the American Indian. I remember feeling a lack of stimulation by the exhibits we viewed. I wasn't entirely bored per say, but there are only so many beaded shoulder bags and wooden wind instruments you can appreciate. The only two things that stand out to me now are:

Museum photos of 2000 year old duck decoys.

1. ancient duck decoys found in Lovelock Cave dated to over 2000 years ago (my response: "WHOA, clever humans")
2. spoons and bowls of one tribe where varying and oftentimes ridiculous sizes of utensils indicated heightened status (my response: imagining people sitting down to dinner with these, heh heh heh)


Things that seem sensational and out of the ordinary are the things that have the most impact - knowledge that actually sticks. Consider controversial exhibits like Body Worlds. REAL HUMAN BODIES plastinated and shown in real physical forms - throwing a football, practicing yoga - across all stages of life, including as a fetus in situ. There we go again with the shock and awe factor. These are the things that, to me, are suitable in a museum. These are the things that elicit the most response from the general, unaware public. It's like this: I have ALWAYS wanted to travel to Africa, ever since I learned about the animals you can see on safari. To this day, I have only ever seen those animals on television or in a zoo. To see them in real life and in their natural habitat would bring such a thrill to me. Kind of like how natural Canadian wildlife got this man so stoked: