This shot was taken outside the Guimet museum in Paris. I like it because it was taken right next to the subway station we came out of to get to the museum yet you can still see a good part of the museum's beautiful haussmannian building. You can also see a very pretty cedar (?) tree which reminds me of the type of trees we saw everywhere in Japan. And if you look carefully (or click on the picture to make it larger) you can even see a picture of a dragon in the background which is part of the advertisement for the Hokusai exhibition, which is what we went to see this afternoon.
We had been wanting to go see this special exhibition as we'd seen and heard a lot of Hokusai during our trip to Japan last month and hubby and I love japanese wood-block prints.
Hokusai's work is really magnificent, and we got to see the world famous "Great Wave" among other mind-blowing prints and paintings. I really enjoyed the exhibition despite my aversion for museums.
And still.....
After Hokusai's exhibition we decided to go ahead and check out the permanent collection as well. Big mistake. The Guimet is home to the National Asian Arts museum and so the permanent collections include objects from China and North Korea as well as Japan. As I looked through those glass counters filled with ancient fine chinese flatware and samurai armours and golden budah statues it suddenly hit me why I don't like museums.
All these objects used to belong somewhere. To a different culture, to a different country, to a family, a temple, a cementry. Regardless of how they ended up in a museum (bought, stollen, smuggled, excavated, whatever the reason) I feel they do not belong in a permanent collection. They were not intended for that purpose. It just feels wrong to me.
Why does a 300 year old beautiful japanese wooden lacquered jewerly box that perhpas belonged to a princess during the shogun era suddenly ended up in a glass counter in Paris, France? How come an incredibly magnificent carved chinese bookcase that perhaps was part of heirloom transmitted for centuries from generation to generation ended up thousands of miles away sitting in a corner being blasted with a blinding white light and an aluminum plate showing off a date? How is it that a delicately carved golden budah is sitting in between a samurai sword and a north korean paper doll and not in the center altar of an ancient temple in a fisherman's village protecting its inhabitants? It feels to me as if by taking these objects out of their context in a way they loose their identity. A stone budhah head or a leather sword cover are just that when they are sitting behind a glass wall. It.Just.Feels.Wrong.
Perhpas I'm being unreasonable. I don't feel this way about paintings and sculputres. These objects were intended to be gazed upon. Their creators dreamed that one day their work would be praised and admired by people everywhere. It would be such a shame if Diego Velazquez' Las Meninas was hanging in someone's dining room or if Rodin's The Gates of Hell was hidden away in someone's private garden.
And I do realize not everyone has the opportunity to travel and see these objects in their original settings. I know that museums allow people to see and admire beautiful objects from far away places that would otherwise remain unknown. Still, I just can't help feeling that someone gets cheated out in the equation...
'nough ranting. I assure you, not all 30d pics will be accompanied by the typical Fned nonsense ramblings.
Fned.
P.S. If you're interesting in knowing what are woodblock prints and how they are made here is a really cool link to an interactive site that shows you step-by-step how woodblock prints were made centuries ago in Japan.
7 comments:
Just as another view of this. I find that I get a deeper feeling from items that were used. Pictures and statues are inspiring but for me the best things are those mundane items that were used in the lives of people. They seem more real and they let me into their world a little bit, more interesting and more valuable to me in some ways than the huge and formal things that were meant to be shown off.
Leaving aside how these things got into the museum, their presence lets me sense a bit of the people behind them. I get a thrill from looking at a comb that a courtesan used on her hair or a box that kept the jewels or the kohl or the belladona of a queen.
It's all that is left of their private life, their day to day living and I find it fascinating. Most of these things are past their use in daily life but they bring such a strong sense of their previous owners that I think they are well used by being in a museum.
But then, I'm the kind of weirdo that thought the ancient toilets in Palenque were one of the most evocative things there. I thought they should have a sign "Pakal pooped here". It keeps it real.
Hi Jonna, I see what you mean and I agree with your point of view. I admit that I have often enjoyed looking at displayed everyday objects in museums and imagining what role they played in history. I especially love looking at dresses and furniture and imagining the gossip behind them. ;)
In retrospect, I think my museum bashing is a direct result of two impulsive feelings I got while visiting the Musée de Guimée on Saturday:
- While I was in the museum I was looking at a stone statue of a mystic hindu animal and it suddenly made me think of those mayan sulptures that you see in Chichen Itzá. I asked myself if I would want to be looking at those statues in a museum in Paris and it made me angry to think that this could happen. Those statues are magnificent BECAUSE they are part of a whole, they belong next to the Kukulkán pyramid or the Observatory... taking them out of their context would have reduced them to simple carved rock statues. I just felt that I couldn't appreciate the beauty of what I was seeing because they too had been taken away from the "whole" and now simply stood there, empty and hollow in a way.
- A few moments later I was gazing at a beautiful "bento" box and japanese ceramic bowls. They reminded me so much of the bowls that all the restaurants served our meals in while in Japan. Memories of those meals and the feeling of being in that foreing land and discovering such things for the first time came rushing back. Seeing similar objects just sitting there behind a glass wall made me somehow feel cheated. As if what was the point of going there and discovering these amazing objects if you can simply hop on the subway, go across town and see them just the same?
I know, this probably doesn't make much sense really (or else sounds extremly stupid and inmature) but thank you for your comment and for making me think more in depth about my own quirky attitude towards museums. ;)
Fned.
P.S. Ancient toilets in Palenque?? Where? I must have missed them, which probably wouldn't have happened IF they'd been a "Pakal pooped here" sign!!! ;)
This is the way I feel about the Maya codices that can now be found only in Dresden, Paris, Madrid, etc. and not in the land from which they were taken, and where every other written record was destroyed by the conquerors of the land.
I have no argument with museums and/or traveling exhibits, but I'm with you: I wish their permanent home would at least be in the country of origin.
What makes me even sadder is when the indigenous poor of a country sell artifacts they've taken from archaeological sites for a pittance...like the strings of jade beads and pottery someone I know bought for a song at a Mexico City market.
It's sad because it's most often the spoils of war but I agree with Jonna that these "unclaimed" objects are helping give people a glimpse into a very real world that may have otherwise been forgotten. The people may be gone or dead but the artifacts help us imagine them. And the French have always been great collectors of musuem pieces and artifacts from all over the world, which I guess works out well for the world because France=number one tourist destination in the world, so everyone gets a pretty good chance to see these things.
Still I understand what you mean. It is a shame someone/a country lost out on their heritage.
As I was reading the first part of your post I was thinking, "Wait, Fned at a museum? Didn't she just post a little while ago about not going to museums?" and then you got to the part about not liking it, lol!
I agree with you about the everyday old stuff- like bracelets and dinnerware. I always hated that part of the Met in NYC. I also hated the Egyptian part, even though I liked learning about Egyptian history and want to go to Egypt soon to see it all in it's regular place.
Heather in Paradise: I KNOW! We also used to know a couple who'd do that (buy precious stones from indigenous people who stole them from archeological sites and then turn them into jewels that they sold to their european friends). It's really sad that the mexican government is so behind in these types of issues. When they finally realize what's happening it will be to late to salvage what little there is still left to save.
Misscris: It's true the French love a good museum and even better an exclusive collection of rare objects. I have yet to go to a museum where there wasn't a line to get in! I should also admit that it has often been the french that have discovered and made known what otherwise would have remained unknown cultures and/or historical sites. It was a frenchman that discovered Palenque and also a french that introduced woodblock prints to Europe. I guess I shouldn't be too hard on the "frogs"... ;)
Mexpat: We once went to the Carnavalet museum which is the museum of the city of Paris. Ordinarly I love hearing any and every urban legend there is to know about this city, but after 15 mins of walking in that museum I was literally sick (dizzyness and nausea) and had to leave. It could have been the fallafel we ate on the street just before entering the building, but I secretly think it was my body's way of telling me it doesn't like museums. LOL
Fned.
Hi! I just found your blog and am starting to read all the old posts, and this one just jumped out at me, I said almost the same thing in mine a few weeks ago!
http://blondeinfrance.blogspot.com/2008/10/art-police.html
I am also planning to talk about the bilingual couple thing from your most recent post, so I'll comment again when it's up. Mostly just wanted to say hi, you have a new reader!
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