Caitlin Watters
Technologies of Memory
“Almost nothing displayed in museums was made to be seen in them”
The museum by its very nature is a site of dislocation, of presenting the ‘other’ against the accepted norm. Many domestic items found in museums such as weaving or fabrics were first and foremost made to be used or presented in a very different context to the exhibition space. These were objects made with a purpose in mind outside of being held behind barriers as an example of a cultural practice or domestic object. The idea here is to question how we view objects in the museum and archive. How do we acknowledge the mana of the object in its own right within institutions? How do we treat them with respect as living things?
Objects become stand-ins for all others; their unique context often neglected in favour of a broader, over-simplified example of all objects of that kind. By presenting a handwoven blanket alongside archived material and research, the artist hopes to reflect the archive back on itself and questions the treatment of such objects within institutions.
