AbhinavAdduri

LondonMuseums
ProfessorAnnMatchette
BritishMuseumCritique
TheclassvisittotheBritishMuseumwasaninterestingandenjoyablesitevisit.Afirst,
exteriorobservationofthebuildingandthearchitecturegivesagrandimpressionofthebuilding.
Thegiganticcolumnsliningtheentirefrontofthemuseumareinplacetomakethemuseum
itselfaworkofart(theydonotlookliketheyprovideanyphysicalsupportforthebuilding).The
largeandexpansiveceilingandfoundationforthebuildinghasaquaintcharm,andsuchafirst
impressionreinforcestheambitiousgoalofthismuseumtopaintacompletelyuniversal
museumexperienceforalltoenjoy.Yet,themuseumfailstoachievethisinmorewaysthanone.
First,itisimportanttodefinewhatauniversalmuseumis,andwhatsuchanexistence
implies.Auniversalmuseumisonewhichcan,asMarkONeillputsit,trulytellthestoryofall
humanity.Thisrequiresthatthemuseumisentirelyneutralinitsstancetowardsanyparticular
cultureorhistoryitneedstosucceedinitsefforttorepresentaculturethroughthediscourseof
itsrespectivecontext.Asaresult,itisnotenoughtoshowhumanityandtheprogressionof
culturethroughouttheglobewithonlyaWesterndiscourse.SuchamuseumwouldbeaWestern
institutionwithaglobalscope,andthuscannotbeauniversalmuseum.
Amuseumbyitsverynaturecannotpaintanentirepictureofacivilizationorculture.
Thecuratorofamuseummustselectbitsandpiecestorepresentthecultureondisplayas
accuratelyaspossible.Therestisuptotheviewer:s/hemustextrapolateusingthegivenartifacts
anddisplaystogainanunderstandingofanentirecivilizationtrulyaherculeantasktodowell!

Thiscuratorselectionbiasistheexactsameascensorship.Thenotionofasinglepersonor
groupofpersonschoosinghowtorepresentyearsofsocioeconomicstrugglesornationalistic
idealsisabsurdthetaskisimpossibleandassuchamuseumshouldonlyaimtopaintthemost
accuratepicturepossible,acceptingtheinherenceofcuratorbias.
Instead,theBritishMuseummakestheboldclaimofbeingauniversalinstitution.
Althoughtherewereseveralenjoyableexhibitsinthemuseum,itdoesnotmeetitsgoalbyany
standard.OneexampleofitsfailureistheGreekParthenonexhibit.Therewerestoneslabs
placedallovertheroom,whichwasanicereferencetotheancientritualinwhichpeople
proceededinalinearprogressionthroughtheentirebuilding.Thestatuesateachendalmost
lookedliketheywerefloating.Thetransitionofthelarge,expansivewhitetilingintosucha
divinelookingareaoneachsideoftheroomwasimpressive.Thisroomdoesagreatjobof
invokingwonderinitsspectatorsonebeginstoquestionthecircumstancesbehindtheartifacts
ondisplay.Butonceoneactsonthiswonderandtakeacloserlookattheseitems,particularlyof
theartifactlabels,thecuratorbias(whichinthecaseoftheBritishMuseumisaWestern
discourse)becomesclear.ThelabelsdidnottelltheGreekstorythroughaculturallyaccurate
discourse.Instead,thelabelsconsistofartisticanalysis,simplyexplainingwhattheartwas(ona
physicallevel).Forexample,abeautifulstatuecouldhavealabelassimpleasThisdogis
chasingafterabird.
ThemajorflawwiththeGreekParthenonexhibitisthatinitsattempttobeuniversal,the
museumputvariousuniqueartifactsondisplaytopaintawholepictureofGreekculturewithout
explainingtheculturalsignificanceoftheselecteditems.Amuseumismeanttobeaspacefor
allofus,sothegoalofthemuseumshouldbetoprovideeachobjectwithatleastabasic

culturalcontext.TheBritishMuseummakesaconsciouschoicetoprovideanartisticanalysis
insteadofanysortofculturalexplanationitsdecisiontodosoisoneofmanyreasonswhyit
failstopaintauniversalpictureofGreeksociety.
Unfortunately,theAfricanexhibitsuffersfromtheexactsameproblem.Thefirst
objectinsightassoonasoneentersisahuge,beautiful,andmostimportantlywondrouscloth
thatrepresentsthelossofculturethroughuncheckedconsumerism.Therestoftheitemsarealso
relativelyrecentadditionstothegallery,asiftheseobjectsaccuratelyrepresentAfricanculture.
Althoughtheyarepleasingtotheeye,itsuggeststhatpostcolonialAfricanitemsarethemost
accuraterepresentationofAfrica.Therestoftheexhibitconsistsofmismatcheditemssuchas
variousartifactsfromDemocraticRepublicofCongorightnexttootherartifactsfromGabon
underthecrudetitleofMagic,Ritual,andReligion.SuchadecisionshowsthattheBritish
MuseumscuratorssimplyviewprecolonialAfricaasamysticalandtribalplacewithout
anythingsignificantinourpostmodernsociety.
ThisisenoughevidencetoconcludethattheAfricanexhibitisframedinacompletely
Westernandcolonialdiscourse.TheBritishmuseumfailstoputanyculturalitemsfromtherich
andexpansiveprecolonialtimeperiodinanyimportantlight.Theselectionofitemscompletely
losetheirculturalsignificancebecausethemuseumattemptstobeuniversalbyviewingat
foreignobjectsthroughaWesterndiscourse,insteadofplacingforeignobjectsinanappropriate
culturalcontext.
ThethirddisplayoftheBritishMuseumsfailuretobeuniversalwasaratherhidden
exhibit,rightnexttotheentrance:theMangaCollection.MangareferstoaJapanesestyleof
comic,andthisshowcaseintheBritishMuseumisevidenceoftheriseinrecentpopularityof

manga.Assuch,itwouldbeappropriatetoplacemangasamplesthatwouldberepresentativeof
theartandcultureofJapanesecomicsasawhole,perhapswithafranchisesuchasDragon
BallbythefamousAkiraToriyama.Instead,theroomisfilledwithanimaginaryWestern
(Christian,tobeprecise)shortstorydrawnintheJapanesestyle.Theauthenticmangabooks
wereplacedinasmallcorneroftheexhibit,showingthecompletenegligenceoftheBritish
Museumtopaintauniversalpictureonceagain.
Allinall,theBritishMuseumwasanenjoyablevisit.Thereisnodearthofinteresting
artifactsandbeautiful,wonderinvokingobjects.Yetitcompletelyfailstosupportitsclaimtobe
auniversalmuseuminanypracticalway.Itviewsvariousobjectsthroughouttheworldina
strongWesternandcolonialdiscourse,insteadofprovidingaculturalcontextforeachobject.As
such,itbecomesaplaceofcensorshipinwhichthemuseumcuratorscanpaintanentire
civilizationinwhicheverwaytheychoose,andthepublicwillacceptit.
Hereisapictureofmyfriendholdingsomeofthe
mangacollectionsthatholdmorecultural
significancethantheWesternshortstory,inthe
corneroftheMangaCollection.TheWesternshort
storypanelcanbeseenbehindher,andthispanel
extendsallthroughouttheroom.


HereisapictureofseveralitemsfromDemocraticRepublicofCongorightnexttoitemsfrom
Gabon.ThetitleofthisexhibitionisMagic,Ritual,andReligion.