Yawn. I should have expected as much. I am a white supremacist if I don't agree that colonials 'raped' & ransacked Nigerian culture, and that unless some ceramics are returned from the Met then there would be nothing for the Nigerians to enjoy in their own country.
Does that make sense? Of course not.
Rather than me being a bigot I simply scoff at your knee-jerk rallying behind Mr. Opuku. A critique inside a Monty Python sketch of course will not register with those with the ram-rod firmly inserted.
You imply I didn't read what Mr. Opuku wrote. I in fact read that & what Montabello responded to, and what Opuku wrote in return and I think I did a better job of reading between the lines than you did. You are a continental European. I am actually a colonist by birth. I would not give in to such nonsense, but simply send them a spade and say "find some more". There should be no obligation to purge old collections to satisfy the unsatable resentment of people who want to strike out at the heirs of European Imperialists (who raped & ransacked blah-blah). I feel it is you who in fact don't really see the forest for the trees. BTW Your comment about Egyptians when I mention sub-Saharan Africa is hardly an indication I am unaware of different types of cultures on the continent. Irrelevant.
Neither did I say that museums lifted the 'brown mad' from the Stone Age. You fail in reading comprehension again. I simply parody the resentment of the past when there is blindness over the full implications of history (good & bad), just as there is blindness to the worth of the Met having a 'Nok'.
My point is that there is a real worth to some pieces being retained in Western museums, and that it would be foolish to give in to somebody like Mr. Opuku.
If he wants something, give him a hug. In truth, this is what he needs more.
Whoopee. Pack it all into crates and send the whole lot back. That will serve everybody well. Naturally, I can only assume the white man took absolutely everything cultural from Nigeria, and unless we do so the millions of Nigerian intellectuals like Mr. Opuku have nothing to look at "on a rainy day". Puleeze.
You imply that there must be "some of those pieces displayed" in a major Nigerian museum. Do you really believe there aren't already? These are ceramics, not the Mask of Agamemnon.
It is funny you accuse others of ignoring ethical issues while instead I would say a little reality check wouldn't hurt on your behalf. How about some cerebral issues instead of jumping on the bandwagon?
Lets talk about comparative utility or necessity in returning a collection of ceramics to Africa. Really crucial for the state of museum collections in Nigeria?.....or just a way to chalk up a point over all the evil nasty 'Neo-colonialists'.......whoooo! Look under the bed, check the closet! Neo-colonials! What a load of PC bollocks.
Re: De Montebello responds
Posted by: "Paul Barford" pbarford@pro.onet.pl paul_barford
Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:42 pm (PDT)
Mr Blair,
I was not saying that museums are pointless, just De Montabello's "universal
museum" justification for closing his eyes to these ethical issues is
special pleading. What I was "scoffing" at was his patronising insistence
that if its not behind New York glass, the Nok culture deserves to be
unknown.
Yes you are right, this is about neo-colonialist attitudes. You seem to be
saying white man gave the brown man shirts and buttons, cars and TVs (and
sanitation, roads etc of your other 'quote'), so they should be quite happy
in return to have their cultural heritage ransacked so we can have something
to gawp at when its raining in NY city. This is indeed neo-colonialism....
> An image in ochre on a rock face will suffice for Mr.
> Opuku to remember just what his oppressors had
> taken back.<
....as is that. To imply even metaphorically that if it were not for the
White Man with his "universal museums", Africa would be back in the Stone
Age is simply insulting. It is also ignorant, since it negates the ancient
cultures of an entire continent - like the Egyptians who many here are well
aware developed a little beyond "ochre on a rock face" without the White
Man.
> The exposure of African culture by being on display
> in a major museum should be something that would
> raise some pride in African peoples<
"Would" (should) it really? You are saying they should be grateful we
noticed them? That was what DeM was saying. Why would it not be a source of
equal "pride" to those "African peoples" to have some of those pieces
displayed in a major museum in their country of origin where the people of
that country would have a better chance of seeing them without staying in a
NY hotel?
> then we may as well roll back the clock and restore
> all animals and cultures to their proper place.<
"May as well"? This is surely exactly the same tactic as De Montabello and
Welsh are employing, taking a perfectly reasonable comment, and instead of
discussing it reasonably (or in fact at all) merely taking it to ridiculous
extremes and mocking your own creation.
> I couldn't care less what Mr. Opuku thinks. <
Obviously. Nevertheless it really is wasting everybody's time and patience
not to actually read what is being discussed before jumping in with invented
side issues which in this case looks awfully like it is based in white
supremecist ideology. Opoku nowhere writes about "turning back history" in
general. That you and Welsh think it is seems to be because you have not
made the effort to understood what he actually wrote in the article to which
De Montabello replied. Like DM, you simply dismiss it.
Paul Barford
I was not saying that museums are pointless, just De Montabello's "universal
museum" justification for closing his eyes to these ethical issues is
special pleading. What I was "scoffing" at was his patronising insistence
that if its not behind New York glass, the Nok culture deserves to be
unknown.
Yes you are right, this is about neo-colonialist attitudes. You seem to be
saying white man gave the brown man shirts and buttons, cars and TVs (and
sanitation, roads etc of your other 'quote'), so they should be quite happy
in return to have their cultural heritage ransacked so we can have something
to gawp at when its raining in NY city. This is indeed neo-colonialism.
> An image in ochre on a rock face will suffice for Mr.
> Opuku to remember just what his oppressors had
> taken back.<
....as is that. To imply even metaphorically that if it were not for the
White Man with his "universal museums", Africa would be back in the Stone
Age is simply insulting. It is also ignorant, since it negates the ancient
cultures of an entire continent - like the Egyptians who many here are well
aware developed a little beyond "ochre on a rock face" without the White
Man.
> The exposure of African culture by being on display
> in a major museum should be something that would
> raise some pride in African peoples<
"Would" (should) it really? You are saying they should be grateful we
noticed them? That was what DeM was saying. Why would it not be a source of
equal "pride" to those "African peoples" to have some of those pieces
displayed in a major museum in their country of origin where the people of
that country would have a better chance of seeing them without staying in a
NY hotel?
> then we may as well roll back the clock and restore
> all animals and cultures to their proper place.<
"May as well"? This is surely exactly the same tactic as De Montabello and
Welsh are employing, taking a perfectly reasonable comment, and instead of
discussing it reasonably (or in fact at all) merely taking it to ridiculous
extremes and mocking your own creation.
> I couldn't care less what Mr. Opuku thinks. <
Obviously. Nevertheless it really is wasting everybody's time and patience
not to actually read what is being discussed before jumping in with invented
side issues which in this case looks awfully like it is based in white
supremecist ideology. Opoku nowhere writes about "turning back history" in
general. That you and Welsh think it is seems to be because you have not
made the effort to understood what he actually wrote in the article to which
De Montabello replied. Like DM, you simply dismiss it.
Paul Barford
This communication, including any attachments, is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you should not read it - please contact me immediately, destroy it, and do not copy or use any part of this communication or disclose anything about it. Thank you. Please note that this communication does not designate an information system for the purposes of the Electronic Transactions Act 2002.__._,_.___
Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
