Tags: Museums
The British Museum caused an uproar on social media when it tweeted out that Asian names on labels can be confusing to teenagers. The statement was made as a response during a Q&A session done by the museum over Twitter.
The question, which was asked by the Museum of Applied Arts and Science in Sydney, Australia, asked about the accessibility of the labels and how the British Museum ensured a wider range of people understood the labels. They responded by saying:
… We aim to be understandable by 16 year olds. Sometimes Asian names can be confusing, so we have to be careful about using too many.
— British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
Later, the British Museum claimed that what they had meant to say was that, between Asian cultures, there is a wide range of names and labels that can’t fit onto a label.
E.g. the Buddhist bodhisattva of mercy is known as Avalokitesvara in India, Guanyin in China, Kwanum in Korea and Kannon in Japan.
— British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
People were still unsatisfied with that response, claiming that the variety was part of the necessary information that was left off the label.
No! That IS the story! It's fascinating that the same thing is know by such different names.
— Ashley Borges (@ashtweeets) September 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/SchmexyDork/status/907920920462942208
https://twitter.com/malindalo/status/907959431287230465
And, some pointed out that this trend is part of a larger problem:
wow flashbacks to school days when no one wanted to even attempt to pronounce the 'confusing Asian names'
— ϟ (@kayladz) September 13, 2017
The obfuscation of differences between Asian cultures is, in larger part, an issue with many museums and how they choose to portray “Asia” categorically (or, sometimes, combine South Asia with the Middle East – *cough, cough*). Categorizing this way can lead to an elimination of distinction, as was made clear by this whole label fiasco. Clearly, it seems easier to filter out the differences between Asian cultures and languages than get longer labels.
Some, however, claimed that the British Museum was making the right call:
The phrasing was awkward but their reasoning is sound. Labels have limitations, and an info dump on just names is not helpful.
— Harvey Birdwoman (@cowgirl_bebop) September 13, 2017
The British Museum came out with its own apology as well, claiming that they had not meant to be insulting but that the purpose of the labels is to be clear.
Apologies, we would just like to add some further clarification here: pic.twitter.com/t9xnJ8rJ3S
— British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
And then once more:
In response to your comments, we feel it's important to address a few final points here: pic.twitter.com/3cRkiwePtU
— British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
The British Museum clearly thinks differences between cultures from one continent are confusing. Perhaps the British could have learned a thing or two while they were colonizing most of the world.