Sneaking inside a museum in the dead of night surrounded by objects that date back thousands of years conjures up a certain fantasy — that of the super-savvy archeologist stumbling upon a treasure trove of musty artifacts, discovering an unwritten history and possibly unleashing an ancient curse in the process. It’s the type of setting that pricks at our inner nerd and it’s also the reason why films like Indiana Jones or The Mummy have timeless appeal.
The inside of the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院) which is nestled in the mountains surrounding the Taipei basin, would have been a fitting venue for the opening reception of the British Museum’s traveling exhibit, A History of the World in 100 Objects.
So after much hype surrounding the news of Taipei being the exhibition’s first stop on its Asian tour, the decision last Friday to hold the “grand” reception outdoors in the 12°C weather, away from the main entrance and in a makeshift white tent which swayed whenever a gust of wind hit, was anticlimactic to say the least.
Photo Courtesy of the National Palace Museum
LEISURE AS AN ANCIENT CONCEPT
However, whatever the opening reception lacked, the artifacts themselves — most of which come from London’s British Museum — made up for through the sheer haunting richness of their history.
The mantra behind the exhibition is that objects bring to life the stories of the peoples and cultures that once roamed the earth and shaped society as we know it today. Their physical presence make the long-gone civilizations more tangible, helping us to re-imagine what life must have been like for our ancestors.
Photo Courtesy of the National Palace Museum
Pots, tools and the like are a prominent feature of 100 Objects, spanning across different time periods and geographic locations. The earliest object, a stone chopping tool from Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania, dates back 1.8 to 2 million years. Discovered along with the fossil remains of an extinct human species, it provides evidence that human life and technology began on the African continent. Meanwhile, cooking pots found in Japan dating to 5000BC were thought to revolutionize the way in which people fed themselves, allowing the Jomon people to eat a balanced diet.
The exhibition includes not only basic survival tools, but also a fair share of artifacts thought to be used for games and leisure. This included a 4,500-year-old board game, the Royal Game of Ur which was unearthed in Iraq. The game is telling of how Mesopotamian royalty lived. The “luxury” materials — including red limestone — used to create the pieces reveal a story of an intricate trade network which spanned all the way to northern India. It also tells how the wealthy found time to amuse themselves.
The Mayans also liked gaming. Another noteworthy item at the exhibition was a ceremonial ballgame belt dating back to roughly 100-500AD found in present-day Mexico. Being the oldest known ballgame in the world, the objective was to pass a 90 pound ball from one player to another without using one’s hands, feet, or head, swaying their bodies and using their hips instead. It’s believed that the game was played against the gods of the underworld, and therefore, the belt was likely to be a sacred, ceremonial object.
Photo Courtesy of the National Palace Museum
SURVIVING AND THRIVING
A History of the World in 100 Objects also showcases the grimmer side of history. Among the most haunting artifacts is the collection of copper bracelets from Nigeria whose approximate age dates from between the 16th and 19th centuries. During this time, 50 copper manillas (the Portuguese word for bracelet) was the price to purchase one African slave. Although not as graphic as images of human beings shackled to one another and herded on to slave ships like cattle, the association of human life as an almost worthless commodity is just as disturbing.
Other haunting artifacts include Japanese samurai swords from the 13th century that could easily behead someone with one swift chop. By contrast, among the most beautiful items are Qing Dynasty maps which reveal both expert craftsmanship and also knowledge of the world.
Photo Courtesy of the National Palace Museum
The exhibition clearly reveals — whether intentionally or not — the innate human propensity to not just want to live, but to live a comfortable life — even if this means destroying other civilizations through violence and bloodshed.
Exploration, subjugation and conquest are the subtexts of A History of the World in 100 Objects. Although a magnificent display, the exhibition is also eerily Darwinian in this sense.
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