Art is important because art objects function as documents that provide insight into our cultural and intellectual heritage, but art is also fun because it’s relatable. Considering the way most of our institutions are set up, the general public has a challenging time finding connections with art in the context of a museum … which is so unfortunate! There are so many juicy stories we can glean from the objects stored in museums. I’m often looking to find out who was sleeping around, who was doing all the drugs, and which artists were insulting their patrons. I know I’m supposed to maintain certain standards as an academic, but I find Frida Kahlo’s numerous illicit affairs, the drama of Van Gogh’s mental illness, and Picasso’s squabbles with Matisse way more interesting than reality TV!
These stories also make art more relatable. Museum goers are people with lives and stories just as messy and colorful as the artists whose works fill our museums. Art is something that we can take solace in, learn from, or be entertained by. Being able to appreciate art has the power to sharpen our critical thinking skills and help us forge connections between the past and our future.
However, most of my experiences on the museum floor have been spent with teenagers or children, so I can’t keep them entertained with the story of how Gauguin spread syphilis to Tahiti or Toulouse-Lautrec’s self-appointed artist residencies in Parisian brothels.
During one of my internships, it was my task to educate fifth grade visitors on West Mexican shaft-tomb ceramics. Fortunately, the collection featured a lot of ceramic chihuahuas. If there’s one thing people like more than drama and gossip, it’s cute dogs, so I knew these objects would be a great (and appropriate) way to get ten year old kids more interested in art.
I found it tricky to understand the objects at first. I wasn’t sure I could adequately explain a culture I’d never studied seriously before and didn’t know much about. Worse yet, there’s very little information on these objects or the cultures from which they came because many of these pieces were stolen by tomb raiders. For the first time in years, I was working with a collection that I had no clue about and was struggling to form original thoughts about. While I enjoyed looking at the sculptures, I didn’t have much of a connection with ancient west Mexican culture and so I struggled to figure out what I could learn from these pieces.
After a bit of thinking, I realized these ancient West Mexican peoples filled their tombs with ceramic sculptures of dogs, dishes for feasting, delicious foods, beautiful women… Like other cultures with elaborate tomb-style burial traditions, they were filling their tombs with things they would need and want for the afterlife!
Sometimes when I’m stumped on interpreting an art piece or a culture, I do an activity where I pretend to “translate” the culture or piece into something relatable in my every day life. For example, if I was going to be buried and I thought it was necessary to bring my own food, company and entertainment, my tomb would be filled with ceramic sculptures of French fries, my cat and my iPhone.
So, on the floor, I asked my students. “If you were preparing for the afterlife, what objects would you bring with you?” Framed this way, it was possible for students to find meaning in these objects through their own lived experiences and create a connection with an ancient civilization.
If we want to ensure the survival of museums and art objects, perhaps helping our audiences focus on the relatability of our objects will help us best achieve our missions. I know it’s helped me in my goals of strengthening visitors critical thinking skills and forging connections between a diverse public and diverse museum collections.
-Nicole Lavay, Museum Studies graduate student
Global Museum SFSU 