Isabella: A Peek into the Exhibit Creation Process

Today, we were the given the opportunity to sit-in on a brain-storming meeting for the reinstallation of the Africa galleries. I was immediately struck by Tukufu's command on the room and his vision for the future exhibitions. There so much of what I heard that I loved.  I could already see how the shrine might look in my mind or how the display of the burned tusk might look in the center of the gallery and the potential is unbelievable. I understand how much of this vision is theoretical (which can create difficulties for upcoming marketing deadlines), but I was really caught up with Tukufu's connections to Joseph Conrad and how he wanted to tell a new story around the objects. Instead of presenting the objects as the story of traditional Africa, he wanted to show how these objects don't depict African tradition at all. Instead, they were objects "bought at a time when Africa was being undone." Using the objects to tell a story of this "undoing" sounds so innovative and important to me. It flips the narrative of traditional anthropological Africa exhibits on its head. If given the chance, I would love to sit in on another brainstorming session or talk to Tukufu more about his vision.

The rest of the evening was spent listening to the speech on conservation, going over scheduling and planning for the guest evaluations, and doing my own research on other African exhibitions. Overall, it was a really interesting, productive day and I'm excited for the rest of the summer.