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*These events took place from 1989-1990*
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So I'm currently in the process of writing my final paper for this class on museum history and theory. For this final paper we got to choose from a list of controversial museum exhibitions and after doing some research I settled on the Royal Ontario Museum's "Into the Heart of Africa" because the controversy surrounding the exhibit is the exact same bullshit we're dealing with today.
I'm not going to bore you with a long drawn out post, I'll just distill what I've learned on the matter from reading a half dozen or so scholarly articles covering it.
-ROM (royal ontario museum) announces it will host an exhibit using the 375 african objects that had been collected by canadian colonialists and missionaries over a number of years
-The intention of the exhibit according to the curator and the museum director is to critique the world view (racism, bigotry) of white colonialists. To do so, they integrate post modernist presuppositions into the display style of the exhibit primarily the deconstruction of truth claims.
-The ROM hosts a reception for the toronto black community to review the exhibit before it's official opening. They aren't happy with it. They feel it glorifies colonialism and promotes white supremacy.
-The ROM agrees to change the name from "into the heart of darkness" to "into the heart of africa". In addition they hire an African historian to run art and education programs that will run alongside the exhibit.
-The black community isn't satisfied with these changes. They demand the ROM yield institutional power to them.
-The guest curator responds saying that only curatorial expertise should determine what the exhibit should be about.
-A group called the coalition for the truth about africa protests outside the museum every week during the spring and summer of 1990. Violence breaks out between police and protesters on two occasions. After the museum wins an injunction to keep the protesters away from the museum, 11 protesters end up being arrested by not abiding the court's ruling.
-The director and the curator abandon their postmodernist discourses on the deconstruction of truth claims by asserting to the press that the exhibit does not glorify colonialism or promote white supremacy.
-In the end, postmodernism is deployed to protect institutional authority.
-27 years later the museum issues an official apology to the protesters and acknowledges the exhibit was racist (lmfao).
TL;DR
-Progressive Canadians host an exhibit to critique the racism and bigotry of Canadian colonialists
-Toronto black community calls the museum, the director, the curator and the exhibit itself racist, and that it glorifies colonialism and promotes white supremacy
-the coalition for the truth about africa forms and protests outside the museum constantly
-the museum wins an injunction against the protesters
-11 protesters end up arrested. Violence between the protesters and police breaks out on two occasions
-The guest curator ends up leaving her teaching job after the protests follow her onto campus
-27 years later the museum officially apologizes and agrees the exhibit was racist
My take -
apparently the lunacy of the far left in it's current form has been going on for three decades.
sources
_____________________________________________
So I'm currently in the process of writing my final paper for this class on museum history and theory. For this final paper we got to choose from a list of controversial museum exhibitions and after doing some research I settled on the Royal Ontario Museum's "Into the Heart of Africa" because the controversy surrounding the exhibit is the exact same bullshit we're dealing with today.
I'm not going to bore you with a long drawn out post, I'll just distill what I've learned on the matter from reading a half dozen or so scholarly articles covering it.
-ROM (royal ontario museum) announces it will host an exhibit using the 375 african objects that had been collected by canadian colonialists and missionaries over a number of years
-The intention of the exhibit according to the curator and the museum director is to critique the world view (racism, bigotry) of white colonialists. To do so, they integrate post modernist presuppositions into the display style of the exhibit primarily the deconstruction of truth claims.
-The ROM hosts a reception for the toronto black community to review the exhibit before it's official opening. They aren't happy with it. They feel it glorifies colonialism and promotes white supremacy.
-The ROM agrees to change the name from "into the heart of darkness" to "into the heart of africa". In addition they hire an African historian to run art and education programs that will run alongside the exhibit.
-The black community isn't satisfied with these changes. They demand the ROM yield institutional power to them.
-The guest curator responds saying that only curatorial expertise should determine what the exhibit should be about.
-A group called the coalition for the truth about africa protests outside the museum every week during the spring and summer of 1990. Violence breaks out between police and protesters on two occasions. After the museum wins an injunction to keep the protesters away from the museum, 11 protesters end up being arrested by not abiding the court's ruling.
-The director and the curator abandon their postmodernist discourses on the deconstruction of truth claims by asserting to the press that the exhibit does not glorify colonialism or promote white supremacy.
-In the end, postmodernism is deployed to protect institutional authority.
-27 years later the museum issues an official apology to the protesters and acknowledges the exhibit was racist (lmfao).
TL;DR
-Progressive Canadians host an exhibit to critique the racism and bigotry of Canadian colonialists
-Toronto black community calls the museum, the director, the curator and the exhibit itself racist, and that it glorifies colonialism and promotes white supremacy
-the coalition for the truth about africa forms and protests outside the museum constantly
-the museum wins an injunction against the protesters
-11 protesters end up arrested. Violence between the protesters and police breaks out on two occasions
-The guest curator ends up leaving her teaching job after the protests follow her onto campus
-27 years later the museum officially apologizes and agrees the exhibit was racist
My take -
apparently the lunacy of the far left in it's current form has been going on for three decades.
sources
Cannizzo, J. (1991). Exhibiting Cultures: "Into the Heart of Africa". Visual Anthropology Review, 7(1), 150-160. doi:10.1525/var.1991.7.1.150
Hong, J. (2016, November 10). ROM apologizes for racist 1989 African exhibit. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/11/09/rom-apologizes-for-racist-1989-african-exhibit.html
Mackey, E. (1995). Postmodernism and Cultural Politics in a Multicultural Nation: Contests over Truth in the Into the Heart of Africa Controversy. Public Culture, 7(2), 403-431. doi:10.1215/08992363-7-2-403
Ottenberg, S. (1991). Recent exhibitions: Into the heart of Africa. African Arts, 24(3), 79. Retrieved from http://libproxy.boisestate.edu/logi...isestate.edu/docview/220954745?accountid=9649
Rankin, E. (2009). Contested Representations: Revisiting Into the Heart of Africa. Journal Of The Polynesian Society, 118(4), 385-387.
Schildkrout, E. (1991). Ambiguous Messages and Ironic Twists: Into the Heart of Africa and The Other Museum. Museum Anthropology,15(2), 16-23. doi:10.1525/mua.1991.15.2.16
Young, T. C., JR. (1993). Curator, 36(3), 174-200. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://illiad.boisestate.edu/illiad.dll?Action=10&Form=75&Value=382627.
Hong, J. (2016, November 10). ROM apologizes for racist 1989 African exhibit. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/11/09/rom-apologizes-for-racist-1989-african-exhibit.html
Mackey, E. (1995). Postmodernism and Cultural Politics in a Multicultural Nation: Contests over Truth in the Into the Heart of Africa Controversy. Public Culture, 7(2), 403-431. doi:10.1215/08992363-7-2-403
Ottenberg, S. (1991). Recent exhibitions: Into the heart of Africa. African Arts, 24(3), 79. Retrieved from http://libproxy.boisestate.edu/logi...isestate.edu/docview/220954745?accountid=9649
Rankin, E. (2009). Contested Representations: Revisiting Into the Heart of Africa. Journal Of The Polynesian Society, 118(4), 385-387.
Schildkrout, E. (1991). Ambiguous Messages and Ironic Twists: Into the Heart of Africa and The Other Museum. Museum Anthropology,15(2), 16-23. doi:10.1525/mua.1991.15.2.16
Young, T. C., JR. (1993). Curator, 36(3), 174-200. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://illiad.boisestate.edu/illiad.dll?Action=10&Form=75&Value=382627.