GUESS!!!!!
the AMERICAN NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM!!!!!!!
OK so Franz Boas, the father of American Anthropology and all-around total badass of a scrawny Jewish dude, made this totally groundbreaking and awesome exhibit that revolutionized EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE that I am going to FINALLY GET TO SEE before they RENOVATE IT"S ASS and make it all F*%#$# ed up. They keep threatening to tear it down and redo it. I have looked and I am *pretty sure* it's still the original 1890something version that he put together.
^^yeah, that's him. Boas.
"Why is this so awesome?" you may ask. "why are you totally pee-in-your-pants-excited?" Well, aside from the totally kickassedly thorough, contextualized, and revolutionary-in-scale ethnographic work he did in the Pacific NW, this exhibit represents that work in what was a totally new and radical way. Instead of lining up functionally similar items in an order of progressing "complexity" to approximate "evolution from barbarism to civilization", Boas decided to shove that Golden Bough right up their stuffy British arses. He didn't put all the arrows together, he put the Kwakiutl arrows with the Kwakiutl hunting gear next to the Kwakiutl canoe. He organized exhibits by the culture and tradition themselves, IN ITS CONTEXT, giving the objects something much closer to their original meaning than "clearly guns are better than blow darts. We can tell this because blow darts are on the left next to the slingshot, while guns are on the right".
NOT to mention the larger-than-life canonized ethnographic work he did on the Kwakiutl potlatch (related to my personal interest in giftgiving). I would get all giddy about that in and of itself. It's some facinating and compelling stuff. Recently it has become popular as a [poor] parallel of consumerism and identity in capitalist society.
Jeez that is more big and puffy words than I've used in a while. I feel better having got that out of my system. I was so excited I could not sleep. Hopefully I'll be able to now. <3 M
Oh, I think I almost forgot to say the important part. Going to NYC w/ the fam to see it!!! (only THEY think I'm going to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Ha.)
