This weekend, humanity had a massive tragedy, and most people could care less. And, it is all my fault. Well, not my fault alone…
The Brazil National Museum, the Museu Nacional de Brasil, went up in flames, turning 20 million objects into ash. Many journalists and commenters shared this tragedy for what it was, a sad turn of affairs for Brazil, but luckily one that didn’t result in massive loss of life. And, certainly, the lack of a death toll should be celebrated.
Museum folks, like me, feel gutted. I have been reading posts and commiserations on social media. Museum work is a bit like a fraternity; you are linked for life to a global community. Museum people are bonded by our love of what museums represent for society.
Journalists, too, are sharing the scale of this tragedy, perhaps with an ambulance-chaser tip. The building engulfed by flames has made the rounds. The articles have generally talked numbers: 20 million objects, 90 percent lost, 200 year old institution.
Yet, as I read the journalists reports, I was struck at how most reports missed the point. The loss of this collection is a monumental loss. The news articles don’t really contextualize this tragedy well. One of the biggest collections in the world is now gone. This is our Library of Alexandria. Our future is now changed.
Collections and Memory
Each collection object is a locus of connections between people. Objects made by people, like artworks, might be easy to see as being connected to scores and scores of people. But, you might not see the human connection in other types of collections. Everything in a museum collection is a product of human action.
Take a dinosaur bone. That fine, feathered gal roamed the earth long before people or the word dinosaur, for that matter. She lived, ate, and died without ever thinking about homo sapiens. But, that bone is now completely within the constructs of humanity. It would remain encased in stone deep in the earth if not for the heroic paleontologist. The dinosaur would be but a specimen in a box if not for the museum staff (curator, exhibiter, and educators included). It might have a good reputation if not for the screenwriter and his amber. And, its story would be decided if it were not for the future scientists who might completely turn everything known about dinosaurs topsy-turvy in one hundred years’ time.
From the creation of the first human tools, we as a species were materialists. Our existence has been mediated by things. Objects can be touchpoints, barometers, transmitters, and mirrors of our existence. Objects help us understand our past and serve as beacons of our future. Human knowledge and experience constantly evolving; losing your past is like navigating to the future blind.
Humanity and Museums
Despite work by many museum professionals to implement populist gallery practices, museums remain largely a space for the elite. The museum field has developed a global culture that positions collections in a rarified world. Museums are seen as elite spaces. Objects are safely placed in vitrines in sanitized spaces with purportedly authoritative text. Collections are positioned for the few who “get it.”
Collections are, however, the collective intellectual property of humanity. Think about that statement. Let me state it again: every object ever made is a part of collective intellectual output of humanity. This statement might seem like a democratic ideal or just stupidity. But, consider this: ideas are the most shareable product any person can create. Music can be copyrighted. Software can be patented. Buildings can be locked. But, the ideas underpinning those human products float around them. The idea of the iPhone, a small portable computer that you can talk into, goes beyond anything Steve Jobs and his minions patented. The idea of smart phones is what transformed society wholly. The idea of the smart phone is everyone’s, even if the financial profits are possessed by few.
Monetary value will forever be a wrinkle in understanding collections. Visitors to art museums consistently ask about “cost” of artworks in order to make meaning about their value. Gallery teachers and guards would be wealthy if they had a dollar for the number of times they were questioned about price tags for objects. While finances might not be as commonly front of mind to visitors to other museums, value remains central. People often question if the museum is “worth” the ticket price. Money is part of our human existence and certainly part of museum life. Collections are purchased, housed, cared for, and interpreted. All of those museum functions require cold hard cash.
But, the value of those collections is exponentially greater than their monetary cost. This vast discrepancy goes back to the human nature of collections. Every collection object has infinite future possibilities and myriad pasts, and therefore, invaluable to humanity.
So, why don’t visitors get this? Why do they not see that collections are more than investments or dollar bills? Well, we are all to blame. There is really no way to quantify the magnitude of this loss. You could think that each object is like a prism of human stories, with each encapsulating at least 1000. Losing 20,000,000 objects is, therefore, like easily losing 20,000,000,000 stories. But, this calculation is probably too small. Anyone who has worked with collections knows that each object is part of infinite stories. That visitors don’t realize this is the fault of the storytellers.
Museums and museum professionals have generally failed to make the case for the true value of collections as repository of humanity now, then, and in the future.
While this article shares some intellectual thoughts about the fire in Rio, I also want to share heartfelt condolences to the museum and its patrons. The loss is global and historical no doubt, but museums are also about their local people. Those people woke up on Monday with nothing. The staff is without. The vistors only have loss. If you have any concrete and credible information about how to help, please share in comments.
Emily Lytle-Painter has a GoFundMe to help raise money for projects including digital ones.
For weekly blog posts about museum work, catch us at Brilliant Idea Studio.
