In my undergrad I studied Fine Art and Art History so perhaps this question doesn’t seem to far of left field for me. A fair portion of my assignments were about the act of looking. The goal was to visually pull as much information as we possibly could from a piece of art or an artifact and try to make connections to what was taught in class. This experience, tied in with being in the MMSt program, has taught me to look at objects in different ways and as I mentioned in my previous post, I am fairly open to accepting anything as information.
One of the most interesting documentaries I saw was in Cara Krmpotich’s class Museums and Indigenous Communities. A group of Inuit elders received funding to tour a number of museums in Canada and the United States in order to view objects collected from their ancestors. What was absolutely was fascinating was that by looking at these objects such as parkas and harpoons, the elders were able to identify sewing and beading techniques that they had seen as children which were lost now in their communities. Moreover, they were able to tell the life of an object - i.e. who it was made for, for what purpose, if it was used often - and add to the body of knowledge surrounding it just by reading it visually.
In terms of cultural artifacts, especially ones that were designed to be used, the act of seeing and touching and reconnecting objects in museums with their source communities can create amazing experiences that may not be available to use otherwise. I think if I were given unlimited resources I would embark on a similar project where we would unlock the vaults of museums and let people in to use and identify objects or techniques. Maybe by allowing this to happen more often or turning it into an educational program we can continue the life of artifacts or make new objects that can carry on the practices these objects represent.
http://www.isuma.tv/en/isuma-productions/inuit-piqutingit
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