Piecing Together the Broken
In the spring of 2022 , I took an archaeology course called Museum Collections: Ethical Considerations and Practical Considerations. Throughout the semester, we learned about many different facets of museums, such as their role in society, how collections are cared for, and how they can be used to unify the past with the present. For our final project, we created a proposal for an exhibit that would use Wesleyan’s collections and theoretically be installed on campus.
As a Classical Studies major, my first instinct was to focus on the Greek and Roman world. I set up an appointment to look through the Archaeology and Anthropology Collections (AAC) with ancient pottery in mind. However, as I looked through the catalog and surveyed various objects, I kept thinking to myself: what story could I tell with Greek and Roman pottery when I didn’t have detailed information about these objects’ histories? Searching for more artifacts to include, I noticed how many of these items had suffered fragmentations over the years, both in the archaeological record and in Wesleyan’s possession. Then, it hit me: why not explore the theme of fragmentation as both a label and a narrative?
I named the exhibit “Fragmented but not Forgotten: 2300 Years of Damage.” The act of fragmentation tells stories about the lives of objects, just like how there is often a story behind a scar on a person. I selected five different objects from the AAC, ranging from my original goal of classical pottery to everyday objects from 20th century Middletown, CT. I labeled the objects, identified the safest method of displaying each one based on external factors, and planned the exhibit space and an outreach/programming initiative designed to help visitors understand and identify with the central theme of the exhibit: broken objects tell stories and can still have value.
Creating the proposal was intimidating, as I was entering entirely new territory and had to develop a narrative with objects, not words, but I came out of it feeling more secure in my ability to brainstorm original ideas, overcome obstacles, and find value in the overlooked. In the future, I hope to have more opportunities to make projects like this become a reality. Storytelling has always been a core aspect of my identity, and this experience helped me realize that there are so many ways to tell stories that I have yet to explore.
You can view the proposal here!
Various documents used for research:
