CAG on museums: Community consultation and conservation

One of my favorite objects while working at the British Museum was a Hawaiian feather god head.  It is believed that this 18^th century god head is the representation of the Hawaiian god Kuka’ilimoku, but other gods were also represented by the heads that exist today. It is very possible that this specific one was collected on Captain James Cook’s third voyage in 1778.

Covered in ‘I’iwi and Mamo bird feathers, eyes of pearlshell with wooden pegs, and dog’s teeth mounted on basketry, this special and old god head is very fragile. At the time I saw it, it was in conservation to help sustain its frame and reduce any further deterioration to the best of an expert team of conservators’ ability.

  

I learned that conservators consult communities to see what materials can/should be used, if their conservation work is appropriate, and what is culturally appropriate to do to such important objects. In the case of the Cook Hawaiian feather god head, the main community consulted is of course the Hawaiian community, which is mainly done through a curator.

The curator liaises with the community to find out what would be appropriate and what would not, and the curator also liaises with the conservators to decide whether objects can travel for loan, go on display, how they are stored, as well as how far to conserve the object in question.

The sacred nature of the image is also an issue. Being a ‘god image’, conservators do not want to alter its state or use invasive means to re-attach now extinct and endangered birds’ feathers to the figure. The collection of the feathers from the O’o, ‘I’iwi, Apapane, and Mamo birds of Hawai’i was a very special act, and culturally valuable. Therefore, many of the loose feathers are also being collected whenever more come loose, as they are still an integral part of the object.

Loose feathers being saved

Consultation in conservation is key to the care of museum objects that have sensitive cultural contexts surrounding their creation, because descendants of the communities that made these objects want to ensure their cultural knowledge is used and protected in the proper context.