|
|
|
The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford is unique in that it has acknowledged a total reversal of its original aims.
The museum was founded by General Pitt Rivers. He was born as Augustus Henry Lane Fox, but changed his name in order to receive an inheritance. (This inheritance appears to have come from interests in West Indian sugar plantations).
The general's interest in collecting began with an interest in the history of firearms. He began collecting in the 1850s and 1860s. Work began on construction of the present purpose-built museum in the summer of 1885.
The attitudes of the time can be understood by considering that his interest in collecting began in the period following the Great Exhibition of 1851, when there was considerable interest in the idea of 'progress'. This increased when the book 'The origin of species' by Charles Darwin was published, and was wrongly interpreted to justify the unplanned development of technology, imperialism and racist attitudes to non-European peoples.
From the beginning the museum used typological display: objects were arranged by type or function, rather than by place of origin or general theme.
The displays may seem old fashioned because many artefacts are crammed together in black-frame cases. However, this makes it easier to compare objects.
An extraordinary reversal
Although the General's theory was that the arrangement of objects in series would reveal a steady progression of evolutionary development, in other words that modern European culture is superior, the museum now accepts that no progression can be shown.
The museum's publication 'Pitt Rivers Museum: an introduction' says that "The Museum has been described as a demonstration of humanity's remarkable ability to solve the problems of life in differing cultures and environments.".
The museum has contributed to new attitudes to anthropology, which originally regarded non-European peoples as inferior or pre-modern.
Eurocentricity
In the Solomon Islands a curator of the museum was told "White man he capsize altogether something belong before." In New Guinea she was told "We do not want you tell your chief anything about us that is not true". Clearly there is much to be done, and Eurocentric museums generally tell lies, distract attention from the real issues, and promote a wilful ignorance of homo sapiens.
Source
Pitt Rivers Museum: an introduction, by Julia Cousins (Pitt Rivers Museum, 2004)
|
|
|
|