Imogen Barnfield
Illustration and Visual Media It is said that there are five purposes for visual art: ceremonial, artistic expression, narrative, functional and persuasive. In my general practice, I tend to create art that fits into the artistic expression and narrative purpose category. I enjoy telling stories and conveying emotions and experiences. There was a time when I might have answered the question, “is your practice political?” differently. Most likely would have said something along the lines of, “My art doesn't have a greater purpose/meaning. It exists for the sake of existing.” or “It’s just what I like to make, I am not trying to make a point.” This is a very privileged expression. While existing for the sake of existing is certainly no crime, it does conveniently relieve the artist of reflecting on their own cultural standpoint and considering their political biases and is almost definitely untrue anyway. So, if that is the case, is it because of who I am that my work/self-expression is inherently political? My own self-expression and experiences as a woman, an LGBT+ person and as a person with a disability are demonstrated in my art work. For some people then, existing for the sake of existing is entirely political. When being yourself is seen as political, is all that comes from you, all you create, a political statement? Yes. Creatives do not live in a vacuum. Something never comes from nothing. What we create is a reflection of our own perspective. Currently I am working at the Natural History Museum, doing illustrations for one of the collections of free tours under the name, Highlighting Histories. These tours focus specifically on scientists that are under-represented in history as well as in modern day science. The tour that I am illustrating for is ‘Women in Science’, and features Miranda Lowe, the Museum's principal curator of crustaceans and one of the two co writers of the paper titled: ‘Nature Read in Black and White: decolonial approaches to interpreting natural history collections.’ As discussed in the paper, one example of the Natural History Museum’s colonial stories of the collections is that of Sir Hans Sloane (1660 - 1753) who collected over 800 plant specimens, in addition to shells, rocks and live animals from his travels to Jamaica, which were stored at the museum in 1881. Sloane worked as a plantation doctor in Jamaica and was complicit in slavery. All of which funded his medical and scientific career. He wrote of the knowledge he gained about local plants from enslaved Africans but did not value their medical traditions and believed they did not have the knowledge to use the plants beneficially. (Das & Lowe, 2018). “The example(s) above demonstrate that the current absence of decolonial interpretation in contemporary natural history museums is problematic. At best, it misrepresents historical fact; at worst, it alienates audiences.” (p. 11). Miranda Lowe, the Museum's principal curator of crustaceans and co-author of the paper, ‘Nature Read in Black and White: decolonial approaches to interpreting natural history collections,’ said about this; “If visitors feel alienated from museums because their own histories and stories are being misrepresented, the solution is simple: we, collectively as museum professionals, need to do better at acknowledging past wrongs for what they are, and telling the whole of the story of science.” Lowe and Das write. Proposing that one of the ways to tackle this is by the museum acknowledging the colonial past of the natural history museum collections and showing the history of the collections alongside the existing information. In conclusion, design and illustration is rarely, if ever, an apolitical practice. The work we produce as artists and designers are reflective of the society we live in and the beliefs we surround ourselves with. It is irresponsible to ignore the politics that influence and set the stage for design and illustration. References: beyond-social.org. (n.d.). Social Design as a Political Act - Beyond Social. [online] Available at: https://beyond-social.org/wiki/index.php/Social_Design_as_a_Political_Act [Accessed 16 Apr. 2023]. Das, S. and Lowe, M. (2018). Journal of Natural Science Collections Title: Nature Read in Black and White: decolonial approaches to interpreting natural history collections. Journal of Natural Science Collections, [online] 6, pp.4–14. Available at: https://natsca.org/sites/default/files/publications/JoNSC-Vol6-DasandLowe2018.pdf. www.nhm.ac.uk. (n.d.). Are natural history museums inherently racist? [online] Available at: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/july/are-natural-history-museums-inherently-racist.html. www.bluesci.co.uk. (n.d.). Decolonising Natural History Museums | Bluesci. [online] Available at: https://www.bluesci.co.uk/posts/natural-history-museums [Accessed 16 Apr. 2023]. www.nhm.ac.uk. (n.d.). Diversity and inclusion at the Museum | Natural History Museum. [online] Available at: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion.html. www.nhm.ac.uk. (n.d.). Miranda Lowe | Natural History Museum. [online] Available at: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/departments-and-staff/staff-directory/miranda-lowe.html [Accessed 20 Apr. 2023]. edit.
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