Anthropology Observation Report

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Pages: 3

In People Made These Things exhibit in the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology was curated by Adam Nilsen, Ira Jacknis, and local community members to create an open dialogue between makers of objects to the curators and the visitors of the museum . Based on Dr. John H. Falk’s work, the target audience is the explorer :creating a ‘curious [exhibit that] drive[s the ] interest in the context of the museum’ .In order to convey this , the curators picked objects such as the Frozen Lasagna Package and Huipiles that were so explores are made aware of the absence and presence of the human creator on these objects. Another example where the curators are engaging with the explorers is by conveying the objecthood of the exhibition by posing question …show more content…
As part of the definition of explorer , Falk states the explorer ‘ . .will want to find something will grab their attention’. The way that the exhibit did that was by placing a frozen food and the Huipiles. Encased in a glass display , there are three stacks of ten Beef Lasagna Boxes laying on the surface and one box that is upright so that the front is visible. The front displays ‘Beef Lasagna ’ in big green letters and on the right side ‘100% AUSTRALIAN BEEF’ in small white letters. Normally, The authorship of the frozen food is forgotten and lost to the consumer. Next to the box , is a description of the encounter of the frozen lasagna to one of the community members. The placement of the lasagna in the museum context forces asserts the anonymity of the maker- the presence of the human hand in a creation is lost. In contrast, maker of the two Huipiles is present in the mind of the explorer. In both the pink and blue Huipiles , there are themes of animals and nature woven into it as part of the design. Next to the Huipiles, Bertina Lopez Cumez narrates her connection to the Huipiles. By sharing her personal details on why she weaves to combat economic tragedy the explorer is aware of those human characteristics : the will to survive . By displaying those objects, the exhibition conveys to the explorer the presence or absence