CAG on museums: Artist reflections on ethnographic collections- The George Brown collection

 Porcelain labels made in response to the George Brown collection.
Photo credit: Chris McHugh

At Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, there is currently a display on called ‘Community in Clay’ that showcases the work of mixed media artist Chris McHugh. McHugh is a doctoral candidate at Sunderland University with a background in archaeology. He has spent the past years researching historic pottery, Sunderland Museum and collection histories, and has also worked in Japan studying the George Brown collection in Osaka (http://communityinclay.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/community-in-clay-exhibition-of-ceramic.html).

This exhibition explores history and material culture of Sunderland, but also the historical event of the removal of the George Brown collection from the Northeast of England (see the previous post for the history of the GB collection sale) to its current location in the National Museum of Ethnology Osaka, Japan.

The George Brown collection on display at the
National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka. Photo credit: Chris McHugh

Trobriand Islands canoe prow at the National Museum of Ethnology
Osaka, Japan. Photo credit: Chris McHugh

The vessels McHugh has created artistically respond to the Solomon Islands lime containers from the Brown collection. The decoration on the vessels echoes the original decoration found on the lime containers in Japan while also referencing the importance of ceramic vessels in 19^th century Sunderland. McHugh reflects that Sunderland ‘was a busy port and pots bearing maritime imagery are common’. The time that George Brown set off to explore the Pacific in the 19^th century was the same time in which the Northeast was a thriving maritime centre. While explorers were discovering new places (to the Western world) and collecting objects to memorialize their experiences, the prosperity of the Northeast influenced the production of a material culture that embodied the wonder and fascination of a world increasingly connected through industry, trade, and colonization.

Details of pieces based on George Brown Collection. The black line imagery
comes from decoration etched into a piece of bamboo from the Solomon Islands.
Title: George Brown Series, porcelain, glaze, stains, decals and pink lustre.
Photo credit: Chris McHugh

Porcelain binoculars from a series of pieces entitled  'Explorer's Kit'.
The text is taken from the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens'
register from the 1800s. Photo credit: Chris McHugh

The connections drawn between collectors, artistry, and heritage of the Northeast are celebrated in McHugh’s work, and such interactions between artists and the museum are very timely. Several large collaborative artist exhibitions outside of art museums have brought new audiences to cultural institutions and new awareness to a variety of subjects. Re-thinking ethnography collections from an artistic point of view becomes an interesting way of thinking about the intersections between museum history and art, but also imbues objects with an extra layer of history.

A contemporary cabinet of curiosities. Photo credit: Chris McHugh