Museums

My name‿ is‿ Iris. I visit museums│ whenever‿ I travel,│ an(d) the question‿ I now ask‿ at the entrance‿ is no longer what‿ is‿ inside,│ but where‿ it came from.

Two years‿ ago,│ I was‿ in‿ a European museum looking‿ at‿ a collection described‿ as‿ antiquities,│ and‿ a curator was‿ explaining the provenance‿ of the objects. Half‿ of them,│ he admitted,│ had‿ arrived during the colonial period‿ under circumstances that were never properly recorded. The discussion‿ of restitution‿ is‿ uncomfortable for museums,│ because‿ it threatens both their collections‿ an(d) their funding. Yet‿ it‿ is being had‿ in public now,│ in‿ a way│ that‿ it was not│ when‿ I was‿ a student.

That being said,│ a museum‿ is more than‿ a warehouse‿ of‿ objects. The interpretation‿ is what gives‿ an‿ exhibit meaning,│ and‿ a good curator can make‿ an‿ ancien(t) cooking pot more powerful than‿ a royal throne. What‿ I resist‿ is the idea that museums should‿ only display what‿ is pleasant,│ or that heritage belongs‿ exclusively to whoever happens to hold‿ it today. Objects should be accessible,│ loans should be generous,│ an(d) the labels should tell the whole story,│ including the parts that‿ embarrass the institution that wrote them.