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Document Details : Title: Of Oil and Antiquities, Cuneiform and Kings Subtitle: A Review of the British Museum's 'I am Ashurbanipal' Exhibition (8 Nov. 2018 - 24 Feb. 2019) Author(s): VAN DE VEN, Annelies Journal: Ancient Near Eastern Studies Volume: 56 Date: 2019 Pages: 367-387 DOI: 10.2143/ANES.56.0.3286824 Abstract : The British Museum’s 'I am Ashurbanipal' has been rightfully lauded for its exquisite displays and its incredible efforts to bring to light an important player in the history of the ancient Middle East. The exhibition was extraordinary in many of its display strategies, providing a blueprint for developing an attractive setting for curatorially challenging artefacts, particularly cuneiform tablets and large-scale reliefs. Using imposing set design and simple digital overlays, the curatorial team gave these relatively plain items a greater holding power, increasing their effect and the length of time that visitors spent engaging with them. However, the exhibition also uncovered a deeply unsettling undertone that many archaeologically oriented museums still have towards their source communities: one of paternalism. Besides discussing the contentions surrounding exhibition funding, this article also examines the historiographical staging of the collection itself, particularly the use of archival materials to create a narrative of cultural progression and heroism. Considerations surrounding content and ideology are put front and centre, but attention is also given to the more museographical elements of aesthetics and originality in scenography. By presenting the exhibition’s interpretive merits, its conceptual issues and its fraught sponsorship, I aim to create a balanced, nuanced and reflexive perspective through which museum professionals and scholars of Near Eastern archaeology can discuss the future directions of our fields. |
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