Great North Museum: Hancock’s policy document says ‘sacred’ items could have cultural restrictions spanning ‘age, knowledge or gender’
The Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle has rolled out policies to handle 'culturally restricted' objects in its ethnographic collection
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A second museum’s guidelines may restrict public access to artefacts because of cultural sensitivities about women viewing them.
On Monday,The Telegraph reported how the University of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum is keeping images of an African mask away from public view because its original culture used the artefact for male-only rituals.
More artefacts may be hidden from view to respect the gender conventions of other cultures,according to the guidelines of another British museum.
It has now emerged that the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle has rolled out policies to handle “culturally restricted” objects in its ethnographic collection,which includes artefacts collected during Captain Cook’s voyages.
A policy document states that items deemed to be “sacred” will have special treatment,and that the definition of sacred in a given culture could bring with it specific cultural “restrictions” spanning “age,knowledge or gender”.
It adds that these sacred “which should not be seen in public will not be used or displayed in any way that could upset or cause offence”.
In addition to restricting displays to those deemed appropriate,staffing will also be taken into consideration,and “secret-sacred objects will only be handled by appropriate personnel”.
Research will also be carefully overseen,with guidelines stating “if objects were originally made to be viewed only by a certain group of people such as the indigenous community or males only”,museum leadership will “decide on whether the objects should be viewed”.
Policy documents state: “The GNM will refuse loan requests of culturally restricted material for display purposes. Such items include,but are not restricted to,secret-sacred Australian Aboriginal objects that were intended to be viewed by men only.”
The museum will also not seek to acquire any more artefacts that come with these cultural restrictions and are “meant only for the eyes of either men or women”.
Great North Museum: Hancock holds artefacts made by the Maori,Zulus and Native Americans,along with Inuit and Aboriginal Australian religious items,which can have strictly gendered uses.
Many artefacts in the Aboriginal belief system are only for men,including shoes worn by a kurdaitcha or rural executioner,which cannot be seen by women or children.
News of the policy comes after it was revealed that an Ibgo mask held by the Pitt Rivers Museum cannot be viewed as all photographs of the item were restricted after it was deemed “not to be seen by women”,a category of its cultural sensitivity policy.
Pitt Rivers said that it would work with indigenous communities to care for its collection sensitively.
These museums may not be the last to roll out guidance on restricting items from public view when deemed culturally appropriate.
The Wellcome Collection has stated that it holds “sacred items,and items that should be kept secret”,and will “develop appropriate care,storage,public display,access arrangements and ownership of such items”.
The Great North Museum: Hancock has been contacted for comment.
