I went there today, just for about 45 minutes as they close at 5 and I didn't leave my house until late afternoon. It is such an immense building. And perfect for a museum. There are so many random nooks and crannies and alcoves filled with stuff, or just a random bust or vase. I really need to go back when I have a few hours, well if we're being realistic I'll be back on a fairly regular basis. For those of you reading this that don't know me, I love museums, and I don't say love lightly like "Oh my gawd, I like love museums" I have a passionate, unexplainable love of museums. I just described it as unexplainable but I'm going to try to explain it. My biggest interests in life are people, history and the history of people; their legacies, material or immaterial. I want to know whatever I can about people, past and present. Museums for me represent a sanctity of humanity, and whether what's on display is exquisite or in fact quite ordinary, it doesn't matter, its just that some one felt is was important enough to document and share with others. The thing is though, I have to either have an entire day, or be able to return multiple times. The first time I like to just scope things out, see where everything is, do a cursory examination of the exhibits, and then I like to go back through and take my time to appreciate everything. Many exhibits are often extremely overwhelming at first, but when you slow yourself down and focus, it is amazing the little things that you would never have noticed before, like the detailed beading on a Sioux suede belt, or the small carving of Horace on that ceremonial jar. I think being able to see and experience these things allows us to relate to whomever owned them, whether it was only a few hundred years ago, or 5,000. At the foundation of it all, it really doesn't (or shouldn't) matter that you yourself are not Sioux, or Egyptian, because we are all members of humanity, and that should be relation enough to appreciate that culture.
The Bristol City Museum has a pretty decent Egyptian collection, which surprised and impressed me as they are expensive to preserve and restore. With something so old, any change in climate, air pressure, temperature, anything, could contribute to its demise. They also had an impressive Assyrian bas relief, it was quite large, and mounted into the wall. When I entered the room, there was a couple already in there, and the room was dark except for a few lights (too harsh of light, or too much also damages artefacts) and as I stood there, the woman stepped over the little blockade around the relief and TOUCHED IT! She ran her hand up and down it! The antiquarian in me had a mild heart-attack, and I just stood there speechless. She just touched it, like it was a tile sample at Home Depot. I stood there thinking
but all I did was stand there gaping incredulously. I'm sure they thought I was simple or something, because i just stared at them with the same expression on my face as they left. Even now, I can't believe she touched it. Do you know how much damage the oils and dirt from your hands could do to an artefact that old?!
After I got over my shock, I continued into the Egyptian exhibit, and as I was looking at different grave goods they had in glass display cases, I could hear screeching and giggling coming from around the corner, and I just cringed and hunched my shoulders, preparing myself for an onslaught of teenage girls, and sure enough they came, like a herd of wild animals, pushing one another, laughing, yelling (in some other language, didn't recognize because I was so irritated) I just stood there waiting until they passed, which they eventually did. I always get so irritated when I encounter people like that in museums. No, its not a library, but why come if you are just going to run amuck, not evening looking at the exhibits, disturbing the people that actually want to learn about ancient Egypt (even if the informational signs don't go very in-depth)? It's just a complete lack of respect, and between that and Grabby, as I've dubbed her, I left with this disappointment slightly overshadowing the euphoria of having visited such a beautiful museum. I will be going back, and I'm going to sequester myself in the back galleries where the shallow, average museum goer rarely ventures and its going to be glorious. Now I know what to do with myself on the days I don't have lecture! If you ever can't locate me or get ahold of me any day between the hours of 10 am and 5 pm, try the museum!
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