Museum #3: The Role of a Museum

This afternoon, I visited the Oxford Museum of Natural History with Ann, Lisa, Spencer, Travis, and Scott. We stepped out of the brightly lit Natural History portion of the museum and echoing sounds of children's voices; we then descended some stairs into the other museum which was once a private collection. The dimness of the light had an immediate disorienting effect. We turned the corner and found a cramped room full of display case after display case of trinkets piled on top of each other. I stopped for only a second to snap a picture of the room, and when I looked up, I could not see a single person from my group amid the tall cases. I wondered around in the maze of narrow passages, trying to follow where I thought the group went, when I heard Ann's voice. I saw that Travis and Spencer had lost their way too. The space had a way of confounding and confusing me as I passed by all of the bizarre artifacts of shrunken heads and real mummies staring out at me from behind the glass.

It was all so very bizarre. I have never in my life been to a museum like this, where the items on display are presented like those found in a sideshow act. In a sideshow, people pay to see a two-headed alligator or singing conjoined twins. I felt like this portion of the museum was no different. The dim lights only added to this effect, like the items in the museum were only meant to be seen out of the bright light of day. Many cultures were represented, but hardly in a historical manner. The displays mainly concentrated on the strange and unusual; eating utensils or pots and bowls were not so prevalent as magical trinkets and superstitious items, like a frog's heart with pins stuck in it. This museum made me wonder what exactly is the role of a museum. Is it a museum's job to depict history as accurately as possible, to teach a lesson, or to transport the viewer back in time? What sort of facts should museums be concerned about, and what sort of artifacts or materials qualify as museum-worthy? Also, how does one decide on how to depict an event or culture accurately? And does it even matter? I cannot say that the procurer of the items in this museum asked himself these questions. However, I must say that I certainly did not get bored in that little cramped room. Above everything else, the exhibition was the most interesting and eccentric one I have ever seen in a museum.