Clifford

Clifford’s writings offered me an opportunity to consider my own biases when viewing art, culture and collections. I appreciate his insight on Western behaviors we learn as children to preserve personal treasures so they can be placed on public display --- shelves to display model cars, stands for precious porcelain faced dolls. I didn’t realize the notion of the ideal self as an owner could be traced as far back as the 17^th century. More than 200 years later, there is still such relevance to a notion that the accumulation of possessions has equivalence to value and wealth.

In these readings I more fully appreciate the challenge presented to our cultural institutions we know today as museums, galleries and exhibits. As Clifford discusses objects, experiences and memories that are perhaps initially prized for rarity or uniqueness can move from curiosity to a valued source of information. How can these brick and mortar institutions continue to keep pace in a society that seems to have unprecedented access? How does this global access influence the value and authenticity we seek in viewing objects, experiences and cultures? Events over time also add an unexpected element….perhaps parts of the world that would never have been considered as “important enough” to collect artifacts or record history will be missing from our future exhibits. Will artifacts from the Wards of New Orleans, the villages of Haiti and Indonesia find their way into our “art-culture” systems? As Clifford illustrates in his diagrams when considering art and culture labels can and will shift and change as today fades to history.