'Packrats' makes the case for the importance of anthropology

Haffenreffer exhibition opens April 9

The new exhibit at the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology doesn't just make a case for the importance of anthropological work - it makes 10 cases. And backs them up.

"Packrats for Posterity? Relevance in the Anthropology Museum" is the project of guest curator Juliette Rogers, a graduate student who uses the forum to respond to the debate over the value of anthropology. It is the first new major exhibit at the Haffenreffer Museum in six years, and will open April 9 at 4 p.m.

These Sioux moccasins are included in the new exhibition, which takes visitors behind the scenes to witness the many modes of inquiry anthropologists employ in a museum setting.

The exhibit's concept sprung from Rogers' perception that criticisms of anthropological work and museums did not coincide with what was happening at the Haffenreffer, or her experiences in the field.

Critics argue that anthropology museums objectify people, neglect to give voice to the people they study, and that the field is stuck in a different century, she said.

Each case she makes is illustrated by the objects from the Haffenreffer Museum's extensive collections, works ranging from palm wine cups from Central Africa to stone blades from the Arctic and women's blouses from Guatemala.

The exhibition notes several benefits of anthropological work:

Salvaging and preserving items that may otherwise disappear. Decades ago, one Brown graduate student made recordings of traditional songs from a village in Peru that have since been forgotten by village members. In recent years he has distributed copies of the recordings back to the village, said Rogers.
Holding objects in stewardship until new technology and research leads to ways to fully understand their use. A stone blade found in the Arctic and now a part of the Haffenreffer collection was recently examined by a visiting student who explained its use based on information he had found in his own fieldwork and a microscopic analysis.
Providing space for ethnic histories not often told in other museums. That case is illustrated, in part, by the museum's Hmong story cloths, which are narratives of the past and the size of bedspreads.
Providing a perspective about what is culturally constructed in societies. For example, the way alcohol is used and perceived varies widely from culture to culture. The exhibit will display various fermenting tools and vessels from around the world and a coffee pot that belonged to one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Providing a way to trace political and social change through the collection of an object over a period of time. That will be displayed through a collection of Southwestern pottery.
Providing an education. Schoolchildren from Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts are the vast majority of visitors to the Haffenreffer Museum, dropped off almost daily by the busload, said Rogers. The museum holds collections of more than 100,000 artifacts from the native peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.

As part of her research for "Packrats for Posterity?" Rogers asked officials at other museums about the importance of their work. She came up with more than 10 case studies, but narrowed the number for the sake of the exhibit space.

For Rogers, the answers she received also helped answer a question that arose when she became a graduate student: "What am I here for?" The exhibit is "very grounding," she said.