Week Three Outing: Museum of London Docklands

Our outing this week was to the London, Sugar, and Slavery gallery at the Museum of London Docklands in the East End of London.

In class, we had discussed Nancy Fraser’s article “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy,” a critique of the original Habermas article we discussed as the foundation of the class. 

Fraser wrote thoroughly about the idea of counter-publics- smaller groups within the general population that create their own sort of public sphere circles within the whole, broad public sphere (such as womens groups, faith groups, etc).

On the way to the museum, I had a handout to read to set the stage for the outing (source: Toolkit, London, Sugar, and Slavery Website, http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Docklands/Whats-on/Galleries/LSS/), and it included these quotes about the museum, discussing a Consultative Group of direct descendants of enslaved Africans who were included in the process of creating the exhibit.

“We learned that communities were not homogenous static groups with stereotyped ideas, feelings, and interpretations of history. There is a diversity of perspectives within so-called ethnic groups.”

“Then one of them took the plunge and began to explain the problem. It was the narrative voice. The voice was that of the museum curator, not the voice of the community it addressed. Despite all our care in dealing with a whole raft of difficult issues, we had overlooked something so fundamental, we were stunned.”

My mission for the outing was to observe and note elements throughout the exhibit that reflected the involvement of counter-publics in creating the exhibit.

There were less extremely obvious examples of counter-public involvement throughout the exhibit, and much more so subtle examples that one might not necessarily notice if not made aware of the change in writing style beforehand.

I noticed and was struck by the inclusion of artifacts of African culture and art at the beginning of the exhibit. I found this particularly powerful, as it put me in the mindset of remembering that these people who became enslaved at the hands of Europeans and also Americans were first people who had a beautiful and exquisite culture of their own. They were not savages or barbarians like some history has made them out to be, and I thought the inclusion of these masks and handmade artifacts was an excellent and simple show of that, as well as something that the counter-publics knew more directly and personally than a museum curator would have.

There were many quotes from those affected and from their descendants throughout the exhibit, and they were a simple and powerful way of making the voices heard and rounding out the display to include the historical facts as well as the personal connections and experiences.

One section that I found particularly interesting and novel discussed the terminology that was used throughout the gallery. It explained terms typically used to describe those involved in slavery and how they were viewed as offensive by different people groups, and then explained the more politically correct as well as humane terms used in their place. An example of this is the derogatory term “slave” and the term used instead, “enslaved African” that didn’t strip those included of their humanity. This was something I had never seriously considered, but sincerely appreciated learning, and most definitely something that would have come from a counter-public that is more aware of the feelings of their culture and what would offend them.

During a brief light and sound show presentation in the gallery, quotes and text were read by a distinctly white European voice, which one would come to expect, as they were the slave owners of the time, but then an African voice was included in contrast, to share the opposite perspective. Lines that I remember from the show were along the lines of “You will not have a voice/Our voices were not heard. You shall not make your own music/You didn’t hear our music. Etc) This was both moving and powerful, as you really were able to experience the contrast of the two groups and feel the emotion on both sides equally.

One display case included ceramic bowls and plates from the abolition time period that depicted an enslaved African in chains, kneeling down, as the main image in the center. It was explained that this image portrayed the enslaved Africans as a very passive people. Members of today’s local community were involved in recreating the designs to speak more boldly about the issue and to counteract the passive view that was so commonly associated with the enslaved Africans.  This was extremely significant and empowering, I’m sure, to the community involved, as it finally gave them a voice in a loud and clear way through the use of both art and practical household items.

Overall, the effects of all the involvement of the counter-public groups are powerful and moving and made the experience much more well-rounded and enlightening for me as a visitor. I was very intrigued by the differences in this museum in contrast to what I’ve been taught my whole life in schools, and I was struck by the differences and the lack of knowledge I had on what the perspective was of the enslaved Africans and their descendants. I had been taught a very “white” perspective on the whole issue of slavery, and I was extremely grateful for the museum’s efforts to present a very thorough understanding of the issue from all sides equally and powerfully. More museums should be made aware of the efforts of the Museum of London Docklands to be inclusive of the perspectives and opinions of counter-publics when the exhibits feature their groups and their culture, and more museums should seek their input in establishing their exhibits to enhance and add validity to their information in every way.