"The South Kensington Museum and the Colonial Project" Tim Barringer

You never think when you are a child and going to museums that they could be impeding your world view , you see them as a place where you go to expand your mind and learn new things. But like everything else you have to use your own judgment and draw from many sources to learn the reality of a situation.

Once again it's amazing to me how little has changed in museums , they may try to hide it but they still take a very imperialist view just like history textbooks and other materials do.

I am reminded of a recent trip to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa . It seems like every battle we were ever in we were the good guys , we were always fighting for the winning side and we're always justified in our actions. Which may or may not in many cases be true . Also in Ottawa at the National Musuem of art is a church that has been moved inside the art gallery which is reminiscent of the mosque at the Egyptian exhibit although a coffee shop has not been put inside the church it is still an odd feeling to walk inside and not be presented with what we associate with a religious environment.


I think that James Luna deals with this imperialist view of museums in his peice titled artifact peice , in which he places himself and some objects under museum cases. As a Native he is representing all the times that his people have been misrepresented in institutinal settings. The signs in the case point out things on his body and links them to stereotypes relating to Natives such as a sign saying scars due to excessive drinking .