From the editor’s desktop Museums, Entrepreneurship and the Politics of Cultural Identity
The wonderful experience I had this summer museum), I had some basis for comparison. If of participating in the Silkroad Foundation’s one leaves aside certain political issues, the Dunhuang seminar and the subsequent tour to progress in “modernization” in China is sites along the “Northern Silk Road” included impressive. Dunhuang itself seemed somewhat visits to a number of museums. They ranged forgotten by time back in 1998; today the from the dusty little box at the Yumenguan west donkey carts are gone from the streets and it of Dunhuang, through the motion picture set has at least a superficial air of prosperity. complex at Yangguan, to the magnificent Granted, a lot of what we saw there and in cities collection of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous in Xinjiang may have been stimulated by the Region Museum in Urumqi. While I did not keep national effort to burnish appearances before systematic notes, and the visits for the most the Olympics, but the changes surely are much part were far too short, here are some deeper than those inspired by that one-time, impressions. I will pay particular attention to highly politicized display of national pride. the Yangguan museum and that in Urumqi, I was quite surprised when we visited because they raise interesting issues with Yangguan (the “southern” gate at the end of regard to purpose, organization, and the Great Wall) to discover that instead of the interpretive strategies. Moreover, the collection dusty little one-room “museum” that was there in the Urumqi museum is hugely important. As 10 years before, a huge complex, apparently the current jargon would have it, museums are created by private enterprise, has arisen “contested spaces.” Much as we would like to phoenix-like at the edge of the desert [Figs. 1, think they should educate through a purely 2]. It includes a reconstructed fortress, complete “objective” lens, in fact probably none can with replica siege engines; a “nomad” camp where the yurts are sprayed concrete but from a distance might seem to be authentic; and a couple of substantial museum buildings (with, of course, a lavish and expensive gift shop). As visting “dignitaries” we were greeted by elegantly garbed young women and stern-faced young men in replica armor, who burst into song to reinforce the atmosphere of this having been All photos copyright © 2008 Daniel C. Waugh Fig. 1. The movie-set fortress at Yangguan with siege engines.
(regardless of where they are located or what the intent of their founders). What is important as we visit them is to understand how the particular biases in selection and presentation affect the ability of the institutions to educate. Having last been in Dunhuang a decade ago Fig. 2. The movie-set nomadic camp at Yangguan, and in Urumqi back in 2005 (just before it was with the genuine, if decayed, Han watch tower in possible to see the new exhibits at the rebuilt the background, left of center.
The Silk Road 6/1 (2008), pp. 2-8 2 unlike in the deceptive “Silk Road Museum,” another private entrepreneurial undertaking which I visited in Urumqi in 2005. (There, we were told, the objects were authentic, even though all too many of them were highly suspect or obvious fabrications.) Private enterprise to lure the unwary tourist seems to be flourishing in China. At least at Yangguan, there is a serious effort to balance descriptive information with appropriate visuals (e.g., paintings of historic scenes, which, even if romanticized, capture moments such as Zhang Qian’s journey west [Fig. 4]). There are some nice reconstruction Fig. 3. The welcoming ceremony outside the models of such things as watch towers, forts main gate to the Yangguan fortress. a site on the vaguely exotic Silk Road of yore [Fig. 3]. The approach here is akin to an installation sponsored by the “Society for Creative Anachronism”—someone’s idea of the Silk Road brought back to life. It is no surprise that the mu- seum appar- ently makes money fairly regularly by renting its facilities as a film set. The Fig. 5. Model (scale 1:40) of Han Dynasty fort at Yangguan Jianshuijinguan Pass, Zhangye Prefecture, based complex on excavation of site. seems to have benefited the [Fig. 5] and a Han chariot [Fig. 6]. And there local economy, are even a some genuine artifacts, the highlight although one perhaps being a rather well preserved has to imagine Bodhisattva statue dating probably from the that the vine- Song period [Fig. 7, next page]. yards are a more reliable long-term source of in- Fig. 4. Zhang Qian rides west in come in the the second century BCE. Detail oasis, at least of painting in the Yangguan until global Museum. Note the anachronistic depiction of his using stirrups. warming dries up the water supply. Apart from the Hollywood set atmosphere though, the museum has more serious pretensions which, one hopes, may elicit meaningful support so that it may obtain genuine artifacts in place of what to a considerable degree now are replicas. At least Fig. 6. Full-scale model of Han Dynasty chariot based the replicas by and large are labeled as such, on tomb excavations and depictions on tiles.
3 As one drives north, one may masses of audiences receive the experience a range of museums, education in patriotism. from the modest, if at least Indeed, the intention to largely genuine collection in Anxi, present the whole history of to the extensive and well- Xinjiang from earliest times as displayed (absent meaningful the story of the inevitable march descriptive captioning) collection of a unified, multi-cultural, but in Hami, where the highlight is Han-dominated China is very one of the excavated mummies much in evidence. While the and the now rather famous exhibits themselves in the beautiful wool “tartans” found in ethnographic section, arranged the cemetery at Qizilchoqa. All by the individual ethnic groups, this pales though in comparison are interesting enough, the with the riches in Urumqi at the explanatory comments would regional museum. make most who are sensitive to The visitor to the Xinjiang identity issues today cringe, since Uighur Autonomous Region about all we learn is that each Museum would be well advised to group is happy and has beautiful come prepared and to allow a customs. Important issues are substantial amount of time to glossed over, if mentioned at all: absorb all it offers. There seems the Hui are a distinctive “Muslim to be an agenda for normal tour Fig. 7. Statue of a Bodhisattva, nationality,” even though that groups (the average tourist likely Yangguan Museum designation is an artifical creation has little patience for much more), and within it there is great taking them first to see the ethnographic cultural diversity; that many Tajiks are Ismailis exhibits, then to see the mummies, and leaving and thus followers of the Aga Khan, who was little time for the major collecting tithes from them as section of archaeological late as the 1920s, is never exhibits on the first floor. If mentioned.... one spends the time the archaeological section re- We can be thankful for the quires, the limited captioning tastefully conceived new and arrangement of the display of the famous material is more likely to mummies on the second floor, confuse than to inform, unless a marked contrast to the rather the visitor has done his/her dismal presentation of them homework. in the museum’s old building. Here the curators have been The same, of course, might very selective, highlighting be said about many museum four of the mummies, from exhibits, but here the different cemeteries and challenge is compounded by periods. There are man- the museum’s having taken Fig. 8. Entrance ramp to one of the nequins reconstructing the seriously its mission state- tombs in the Astana Cemetery. original appearance of the ment, prominently displayed individuals, and some care has on the wall next to the entrance to the been taken to create an attractive setting (for archaeological exhibits on the first floor: example, the body from Astana Tomb 72TAM215 We have [created]...exhibits from the Stone is set against a reproduction of the painted Age to the Qing Dynasty for the purpose to panels there, which we actually had been show the contributions the people of all privileged to see in situ when in Turfan) [cf. nationalities in Xinjiang have made for Fig. 8]. The selection of artifacts which safeguarding the reunification of the accompany them though is all too slim, and motherland, for enriching the motherland’s some of the material illustrated on the walls cultural treasure-houses and to make the has nothing to do with the particular burials,
4 even though that would not be obvious to most Furthermore, there are distinct biases here, viewers. Many of the most famous objects perhaps an understandable legacy of a historic excavated from Xinjiang cemeteries are still on unwillingness in China to recognize the power tour. and legitimacy of its “barbarian” neighbors. We find little that might help us to appreciate the Part of the problem with the mummy exhibit importance of the nomadic Xiongnu or Wusun then is its mixing of cultures from different who at one point dominated large parts of the regions and periods. While this may be region. While there are several examples of consistent with the museum’s stated texts in languages and scripts other than educational goal, it works against any effort at Chinese, there is no clear elucidation of the real understanding of the fact that even after significance and dominance of those languages the initial Chinese penetration of the region in certain periods. Might we not learn that the under the Han Dynasty, the larger “Xinjiang” Kharosthi script in Niya generally was used to (a term coined in the Qing Dynasty) was still write a north Indian language which was a very much a disparate collection of regional vehicle for administration in the Kushan Empire? cultures. They interacted to some extent, yes, But perhaps to hint at possible Kushan but at the same time they maintained distinct dominance of what is now southwestern regional traditions. At very least it is an Xinjiang might undercut the inevitability of oversimplification to assert (as is done in the “reunification of the motherland.” Might we section of the first-floor exhibits which imagine a day when no one would feel ostensibly focuses on the Silk Road) that thanks compelled to entertain such a thought seriously? to the Han Dynasty conquests, “here became the place where the civilizations of the world Ideally a museum not only should inform but assembled and syncretized.” All roads in fact it should provoke the viewer into thinking long do not lead historically to the P.R.C. To say that, and hard about what he or she is viewing, though, should not be construed as questioning stimulate a desire to learn more, and present a contemporary political legitimacy, however range of interpretations. In Sweden, a country much some might wish to do so. where a concern over national identity is very much alive, the national historical museum in This difficulty created by the museum’s Stockholm in fact takes very seriously the interpretive framework is reinforced in the very mission to present alternative interpretations extensive archaeological exhibits, largely very and challenge the viewer to decide which may nicely displayed on the first floor. The be right. In the regional museum in Vladivostok arrangement is ostensibly chronological, in the Russian Far East, I was amazed to starting with the early Palaeolithic, but then in discover in 2004 how quickly the ideologically any given room one may see items side-by- constructed narrative about the inevitable side which have no particular relationship to triumph of the Soviet system had been replaced each other and come from ecologically very after its collapse by somewhat subtle questions different regions which are far apart on the map. about how in fact one might think about the A photograph of the now well-known gold mask history of the late 20th century. Unfortunately, unearthed in a nomadic tomb way beyond the as controversies at the museums in Washington, mountains at Boma decorates the wall of an D.C., have shown in recent years, assertive exhibit of objects from Astana and Karakhoja nationalism aimed at presenting a triumphal in the Turfan region. Unlike the approach that narrative of the past may end up forcing was taken in the Berlin/Mannheim exhibition thoughtful curators to compromise and end up last year, grouping the artifacts by site, here largely avoiding anything which might stimulate those from a single site may be scattered the viewer to think. randomly through several rooms. Therefore there is no way to obtain any real sense of It would be naive to think that the dominant historical and regional development. A melting- narrative in Urumqi will change any time in the pot of nationalities? Perhaps, but that is a kind near future. The more the pity, since the of modern construct that may have little richness of the collections on display there interpretive value for our understanding of the surely will grow, and the ways in which they richness of what archaeology in Xinjiang has might be invoked to cultivate an appreciation unearthed. of the diversity and fascination of the history
5 Fig. 9. Clay pedestal Fig. 10. A silk banner bowl, excavated at depicting Fuxi and Astana by Aurel Stein. Nuwa, 7th-8th century British Museum, Inv. no. CE, excavated at 1928.1022.110 Astana by Aurel Stein. (Ast.i.1.05) National Museum, New of the Silk Roads Delhi, Inv. no. Ast. ix.2.054. are endless. This could be done, idea, for example, of course, with- after seeing so many out raising any of the mingqi and kind of political other grave goods or ideological from the Astana challenge, since Cemetery in collec- to a consider- tions in London and able degree the Delhi [Figs. 9, 10, 11, problems in the 12], that the Urumqi museum collection holds a exhibits as cur- group of them which rently mounted is so large and varied. could easily be corrected by rearrangement and And the textiles more extensive analytical captioning. scattered throughout the Urumqi displays are Flawed as it is, the Urumqi museum is equally impressive in their variety. The more arguably the single most important one so in that some of the most striking examples anywhere to introduce the visitor to the early were not even there but off in traveling history of Inner Asia. Even though huge exhibitions [Fig. 13, facing page]. quantities of the archaeological treasures of Rather than indulge in listing the other Xinjiang were carted off by foreigners beginning treasures, I would conclude by recommending in the late 19th century, the sheer volume and to those who may never have the good fortune variety of what the excavations of the last half to visit Urumqi some books which can introduce century have uncovered is stunning. I had no the Xinjiang archaeological collections. On the occasion of its re- opening after the completion of the new building, the museum issued a nicely illustrated catalogue, with text in Chinese and somewhat fractured English (Xinjiang 2006). The material is grouped by type
Figs. 11, 12. A mounted soldier and detail of a mounted equestrienne, 7th-8th centuries CE, excava- ted by Aurel Stein at Astana. National Mu- seum, New Delhi, Inv. nos. Ast.iii.2.021, .024, and Ast.iii.2.016, .022.
6 Fig. 13. Detail of woven decorative band de- picting a winged beast, on a woolen skirt frag- ment, dating to the Han Dynasty period and excavated at Sampula. Xinjiang Uighur Museum Inv. no. 84LSIM01:361. of object—ceramics, wood, metal, etc.—not arranged by the order of the displays in the museum itself. For those who read German, the catalogue for the recent Berlin/ Mannheim exhibit, reviewed in these pages in our last issue, provides a good many important objects not in the Xinjiang museum through the ruins of Jiaohe, or, for that matter, catalogue (as well as some which are) and more slowly and thoughtfully perusing the displays extensive analytical essays and descriptive in the Urumqi regional museum. cataloguing (Ursprünge 2007; Waugh 2008). Smaller selections of some of the Xinjiang Daniel Waugh material have appeared in other exhibitions, Professor Emeritus such as that curated by Li Jian at the Dayton University of Washington (Seattle) Art Institute in 2003 (Glory 2003). For the [email protected] ongoing discoveries at Niya, there is a beautifully illustrated introduction edited by Feng Zhao and Zhiyong Yu (Legacy 2000), issued in conjunction with an exhibition at the China National Silk Museum. One-stop shopping, at least in the sense of its References geographical coverage and number of illustrations, is the comprehensive Ancient Note: I have made no effort to transliterate titles Culture in Xinjiang Along the Silk Road (2008), in Chinese but merely provide the information a kind of illustrated encyclopedia arranged by on them from their English titles, along with site, with captions and essays in both English the ISBN numbers to help those who might wish and Chinese (the essays in Chinese are more to obtain them. substantial). This remarkable book has everything from architecture to cave murals to Ancient 2008 archaeological artifacts, with illustrations which, The Ancient Culture in Xinjiang along the Silk if small, are generally good enough so that they Road. Comp. by Qi Xiaoshan and Wang Bo. could readily be scanned for incorporation into [Urumqi?],2008. ISBN 978-7-228-08667-2. lectures by those who teach the silk roads (cf. Legacy 2000 Waugh 2007). Legacy of the Desert King: Textiles and In short, one need not travel the Silk Roads Treasures Excavated at Niya on the Silk Road. in Gansu or Xinjiang to learn what archaeology Ed. Feng Zhao and Zhiyong Yu. Hangzhou: has revealed about their cultures and history. China National Silk Museum; Urumqi: Xinjiang That said, studying a book is no a substitute Institute of Archaeology, 2000. ISBN 962- for seeing the Mogao Caves, or wandering 85691-2-0.
7 Glory 2003 Collections on the Internet.” Central Eurasian The Glory of the Silk Road: Art from Ancient Studies Review 6/1-2 (2007), 48-54
(Above): Museum model of Jiaohe on its mesa between two rivers.
(Below): Panoramic view of the vast ruins at Jiaohe, including on the right the Large Monastery.
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