Collecting things and people lecture and the British museum

Collecting things and people lecture and the British museum

Dr Clare Rose took our lecture last week. She’s extremely knowledgeable and a real eye opener. Whilst she was talking I got the feeling that she had travelled the world and she had many stories to tell. The lecture discussed issues museums have to deal with when displaying and collecting work.

One matter she spoke about was the Benin (Nigerian) expedition of 1897. Many precious treasures were taken when the British invaded and they were put into the British Museum. Nigeria has fought to have them back ever since. Included in this collection were 50 bronze statues and plates.

Therefore Dr Clare Rose raised the question, “Is this addressed around the collection and are they displayed rightfully?”

Yes, the captions are not misleading and it clearly states that the British acquired these out of force. And yes, I do think the way they  are displayed brings out the best of the collection. It makes the bronze plates the centre of attention and much more like a work of art then an object in a glass case.

Displayed proudly in the centre of the Life and Death hall is the work of textile artist Susie Freeman, titled Cradle to Grave. With the help of David Critchly and Dr Liz Lee she created a long knitted cloth with pockets filled with individual prescription pills. 14,000 is the average estimate of drugs prescribed to someone during their lifetime. The work shows two prescriptions, from a man and a woman with each documenting their lifetime through the pills sewn into knitted nylon.

'Cradle to Grave' by Susie Freeman, David Critchly and Dr Liz Lee.

The Tree of Life by Christian Aid was a project run by Kester, Hilario Nhatugueja, Fiel dos Santos and Adelino Serafim Maté Maptuo in 2004. It’s a celebration of the end of all conflict in Mozambique. The people of Mozambique were asked to give up their weapons in exchange for ploughs, bicycles, sewing machines, tractors and so on. Once the weapons were collected they were cut up and moulded into the Tree of Life and Throne of Weapons sculpture. 

'Tree of Life'