Exploration
Pitt Rivers Museum. Oxford.
A couple of weeks back we went on a good old fashioned 'school trip' to Oxford. To the Pitt Rives Museum, which is part of Oxford University and is a huge collection of Anthropology items from around the world.
At first I was wondering why we were going here, what's the bigger meaning, what are our lecturers getting us to think about... And I think it's about going back to year '0'. Resetting everyone's knowledge, skills, identity understanding and going back to the bedrock. I'll be discussing Athropology, Ethnography and what I have identified about myself as creator of media.
Where did it start?
Anthropology.
Anthropology by definition is the study of humans (and relationships with animals). It's what make us, us. The approach to anthropology is to research the past and to explore the evolution of humans. The prime focuses are upon biological,social, archaeology and linguistics. From looking at genetics of the biological through to the social impacts such as culture, language, religious and political.
The focus and subject matter is broad, this could be a specific community from urban jungles in Toyko through to human fossils from the Ice age. It is what we do as humans, our lives, our identity and the process of being human, that intrigues anthropologists.
Anthropologist ask the right type of questions.
- How has evolution shaped us? In the way we think, act and behave?
- What is culture and how do we identify with it?
Anthropology hero.
CHARLES DARWIN.
Charles Darwin is one of my heroes. He has been for many years, I even named my dog after him.
Firstly for his exploration of the world, the discovery of animal and human evolution and for his sheer wanderlust & mind. His voyage around the world on HMS Beagle was the start, of what would become his life works. He struggled himself, to find what his role and identity was when he was younger, and it was a love of nature and a chance meeting with his Professor Henslow at Cambridge, that steered him onto an anthropology voyage of discovery.
His theory of evolution is well known around the world. At the time many scholars and religious figures were challenged that animalS and humans could be considered as equal, when talking about natural selection. Many people were not ready to intellectually connect with the idea of the relation between human and animals. In some cultures and religions to this day, it still challenges the belief system of existences and human evolution.
Anthropology Vs EthnogrAphy
Anthropology & ethnography is "same, same but different". For many the thought and the process is similar, and often these two can be confused as one.
However, with film making and 21st century technology are the two practices going to synergies some how, through the platform of submersive film making?
Exploration of the museum.
Pitt Rivers is a magical place, and a treasure trove of human existence. We were given the task of finding three objects, to photograph them and to finally discuss why we chose them and what have we learned from them.
Day at the museum.
Even though these guys were not my chosen objects, they still had to be mentioned.
These shrunken heads, originate from South America, and the Tansatsa heads are what they are known as. These are the shrunken faces of people who where deemed to have high spiritual powers. When they passed the person, would have their mouth sewn shut to keep in the knowledge and a process would begin using hot sand to shrink the skin.
Following this the head would shrink and be wrapped around a stone. Tribes would often battle, to steal each other's shrunken heads, as they were deemed powerful.
My Three objects
Through my travels in South East Asia, I have come across theses types of amulets before. Most of SEA follows aTheravada Buddhism compared to Tibet, which incorporates, Madhyamika & Yogacara philosophy.
Therefor I do agree that, the designs do change from country to country, dependent on the influence on cultural & religious impacts. The objects also have a spiritual value to owner, depending on who the object was inherited from, if it was owned by a high monk or had been blessed by one.
Lotus feet also known as Chinese footbinding is one of those multinational vanity phases the Chinese went through until the 20th Century. In western culture we can relate this to the removing of ribs, in females to achieve incredible small waistes
And in modern context we can see the ideology of body transformation in plastic surgery, skin bleaching and FGM
It's strange how the human race defines beauty at different periods of human existence, and predominantly it is the female gender who it impacts most.
Death plays a huge part in all cultures, whether Mexican and the "day of the dead", Pagen and Halloween or Itlian with skull amulets. Death is represented in all cultures.
These particular skull amulets spoke out to me, as I have a collection of Tibetian skull beads similar to these. which have been carved from animal bones. These skulls in Tibetian culture are to also remind the owner "Remember your mortality", and were also used as prayer beads during a persons funeral. There is clearly a similar synergy that runs through mankind.
The conclusion.....
Now my lecturers can be mysterious sometimes in the way they introduce things, ideas and experiences. I think this was a personal experience for everyone in the group.
For us to fully appreciate going back to zero, we had to go back to the origins of discovery and identity.
- Who are we?
- What is the truth?
And for me, documentary and anthropology may soon combine into sensory media and from that there will be anthropotic documentary and ethnography documentary . What would Darwin have done if he had, the technology that we have today?
..."As man advances in civilisation, and small tribes are united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all members of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all nations and races"... (Darwin)