Today was International Museum Day, and this year's theme was 'Museum and Memory'. Ever since I was a kid on summer holiday in Sydney with my grandmother, i've loved visiting museums - they are a big part of my memory of travel & general nerding in my childhood years. During high school when I travelled less to Sydney over the summer I lost touch with my love of museums somewhat, and it was only in my last couple of years of high school it was rekindled on a trip to Brisbane to a few of the Uni of QLD museums (one of which I ended up working in years later) and to the Queensland Museum (...where I also ended up working years later).

When I started my Bachelor of Arts degree in 2000 at the University of QLD, I was heading headfirst into it all with the intent of majoring in archaeology when I was seduced by the nerdy side - an introductory anthropology course, and a tour through the gallery & storage areas of the University's Anthropology Museum. Objects were everywhere, of all different types and materials and origins. And even when you barely scratched the surface information that went with these objects (be it exhibition text or folders of information in filing cabinets), there were so many stories that went with these objects that I became fascinated with the power that objects can hold, what they tell us, and the absolute place that material culture has in our lives.

So as I went onward with my anthropology studies, the further I went into connecting culture with objects, and museums with what objects tell the visitor about culture. It was incredibly rewarding, taking one discrete object, picking up a thread from its history and following it for long enough that you can weave it back into a story. One of my earlier research projects (for my Material Culture course) was a wild goose chase to find out the history of a particular musical instrument (a bamboo thongophone to be precise). And it wasn't just general information about this type of instrument, how it was made/used, and by who - but the history of this specific instrument; how it'd come to be in Australia, Brisbane specifically, and how it'd come to be in the Anthropology Museum's collection. My research took me trawling through archives at the State Library, over to the music library on campus to listen to records of Papua New Guinean folks bands that used this instrument, and clambering up ladders in the collection stores to inspect/measure/take notes on the thongophone itself.

(Let me tell you, when a student a few years later decided to use that instrument in the annual anthropology museum class exhibit, I just about burst with excitement.)

I ended up researching more objects - for collection records, for University assignments, for exhibitions - and it never got old. Every new museum I visited I saw more and new objects that fascinated me with their origins, history and what they told me. Whether it's a general example of a type or object, or something very specific, it's all something that will teach me more about the world through experiencing an object.Natural history, ancient cultures, social history, ethnography - I dig it all. I especially love the stuff that mixes it all, like when a technically scientific specimen is loaded with history and culture too!

Don't get me started on museums themselves as objects or I may turn your faces inside out with the excitement of it all! Ha. I said on Twitter earlier today that using objects to tell stories is a really key museum theme to me; and every little bit of memory that an object/specimen has from the point it came into being right through its journey into a museum is one of the greatest currencies that museum collections have. I'm glad I got to blog a little about my memories of museums, and how objects and their histories/stories are an important part of the theme of museum and memory to me. It's a pity that I didn't get to spend International Museum Day in a museum, but i'm sure i'll make up for it soon enough.

Last night a lovely Yelp friend, Chris P, took me along as his guest to a member preview of Black Ice: David Blackwood Prints of Newfoundland. I didn't know much going in except for it was the work of a Canadian artist, and that I found the main promotional image extremely evocative.

Overall, the exhibit is very tight - it presents an excellent picture of the artist and his work. I can't recall exact dates of the works, but it seems to work pretty well chronologically, as well as thematically. (I should have paid a bit more attention to this!) I enjoyed the fact that the further I got into the exhibit, the better I got to know the artist and his portrayal of Newfoundland; much of the exhibit is peppered with objects that help highlight the artist's portrayals - weapons, items of clothing, oil lamps and the like. As you look around the last room, things like the artist's letters and notes and objects like a shed door and a ship's bell help to complete the picture. You get a very strong sense of the Maritimes from this exhibit, and I took that away just as much as I took an appreciation for the amazing detail of Blackwood's art.

I can't wrap my head around the effort that goes into creating copper etchings for print-making. The concept and execution is completely beyond my non-arty knowledge (I always leaned more toward photography in art class anyhow). One small room in the exhibit focuses on the amazing print of Fire Down on the Labrador (the main promotional image I linked above) - starting from the conceptual sketch, you follow the progression of the work through its steps, all displayed in a small path along the wall, culminating in the final (amazing) print. It's a fantastic thing to be able to see an artist's process like this. In addition, a small display case in the centre of the room contains the copper etching, as well as tools and materials used to create the etching. This brings the art to life so much more for an art-pleb like me, seeing the physicality and process behind a piece of work. I suppose it's a fairly unique thing to have in an exhibit of an artist's work, and the AGO are lucky that they've had such great access to the artist and his collection.

Although some of the subject matter tends toward the bleak side, the aesthetic of Blackwood's art is bold and stark. It's visually rich and detailed, and every print really has its own sense of atmosphere. If you're in Toronto and able to visit, I highly recommend it - not only will you get to check out this fantastic art, but also get a great sense of Canadiana at the same time.

I went to Cairo in September 2008, for a brief visit with my Mum in the leadup to my birthday. There's a lot of amazing stuff to see there, naturally, but I was especially excited about visiting the Egyptian Museum (the entrace to which is pictured above - taking photos inside is forbidden). It was a strange experience - after visiting so many museums all over the world that hold a great deal of Egypt's cultural heritage, to see it here in its home was almost unreal. The museum itself is a lovely old building, and there is some great stuff on display; they aren't exactly rolling in funds so some of it isn't as flash as it could be, but in some ways that doesn't matter - it's the objects and the history that really speaks at this museum.

My museum keyword news alert has been on fire the last few days in Google Reader after what's happened at the museum - looting and damage. There is a little information here and Boing Boing has a little amongst all their coverage too. The Classical Archaeology tumblr's got a lot of info on their first couple of pages as well. I feel like with all that's going on I still need to think this part of events through and get this out. Much like when the Iraq war was at its height and museums were being looted and cultural heritage destroyed, i'm a big mix of confused and upset. No matter how angry you are, no matter how much you want change, no matter who you are, there is nothing to be gained from destroying cultural material. It's especially upsetting seeing looters (and perhaps others, depending on what you're reading) take advantage of this situation to ruin their own historic treasures. It really doesn't compute for me. I trust that there are enough sensible folks in Cairo who will be able to prevent any more damage, and it's seriously terrible it's gone this far. I hope that things can get safe in general for everyone in Cairo too, as soon as possible.