Displaying First Encounters Between Europeans and Pacific Islanders on the Voyages of Captain Cook, in Contemporary British Museums
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Emma Yandle Objects of Encounter: Displaying first encounters between Europeans and Pacific Islanders on the voyages of Captain Cook, in contemporary British museums Figure 1. Māori trading a crayfish with Joseph Banks. By Tupaia, Figure 2. Joseph Banks trading with a Māori. Detail from In Pursuit of 1769. Venus [infected], by Lisa Reihana, 2015-2017. © Lisa Reihana. Emma Yandle Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam Supervisor: prof. dr. R. (Rob) van der Laarse Second reader: dhr. dr. D.A. (David) Duindam Word count: 22,988 Emma Yandle Abstract This paper explores the presentation in contemporary British museums of the cross-cultural encounters that took place between Europeans and Indigenous Pacific Islanders, on the eighteenth-century voyages of Captain James Cook to the Pacific region. It takes as its central case studies four exhibitions that opened in London in 2018, in response to the 250th anniversary of Cook’s first voyage. It focuses on visualizations of encounters, ranging from British depictions created on the voyages, to the deployment of encounter iconography by contemporary Indigenous Pacific artists. Both are brought into relation with current anthropological conceptions of cross- cultural encounters: as contingent, tied to specific social locations, and with agency and complex motivations shared by both Indigenous and European actors. It analyses the extent to which the interpretative framing of these works reflects such dynamics of early Pacific encounters. It takes the view that eighteenth-century depictions of encounters are routinely deployed as documentary evidence within exhibitions, overlooking their imaginative construction. By comparison, the use of the same encounter iconography by contemporary Indigenous artists is subject to visual analysis and frequently brought into relation with anthropological ideas of encounters. However, it concludes that the interpretative framing of both eighteenth-century and contemporary visualizations of encounter still tends towards simplicity, introducing encounters as emblematic of contact within the wide Pacific region, rather than exploring encounters as specific, singular moments, within distinct temporal and spatial environments. Key words: encounters, contact, Cook, Pacific, museums Emma Yandle Acknowledgments Many thanks are due to the staff of the University of Amsterdam, in particular Dr. Robert van der Laarse for his advice and overall supervision of this work. Early conversations with Dr. David Duindam, offered valuable ideas on the structuring and scope of my research and Diederick Wildeman, Curator of Navigation and Library Collections at Het Scheepvaartmuseum (The National Maritime Museum) in Amsterdam, provided much fruitful context and widened my bibliography. I am particular grateful for the willingness of the curatorial teams of the case studies discussed here to contribute to my research: Dr. Adrian Locke and Rebecca Bray of the Royal Academy of Arts, London; Laura Walker of the British Library; Sophie Richards of the National Maritime Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich; and Dr. Julie Adams of the British Museum. All generously gave their time to discuss this research and provided valuable insights into the scope, curatorial aims and specific choices within their exhibitions. Finally, thanks are due to Miranda Reilly for her encouragement and editing advice; Kate Yandle for her pastoral support; and Peter and Jo Yandle for always being there. Emma Yandle Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... 3 Terminology .............................................................................................................................. 6 List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... 7 Preface: Displaying encounters, exhibiting Tupaia ................................................................ 9 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 13 i.) Talking about Captain Cook in the 21st century ...................................................................... 13 ii.) Cook exhibitions in 2018: searching for the encounters ..................................................... 16 iii.) Methodology and theoretical underpinnings ....................................................................... 20 iv.) Structure of the work ........................................................................................................... 22 I. The rise of encounters in contemporary museum practice ........................................... 24 i.) The material legacy of Cook’s voyages and their entry into museum collections ................... 24 ii.) From discovery to encounter, shifts in anthropology .......................................................... 27 iii.) Museums and the contact zone ............................................................................................ 29 iv.) The Gweagal shield, a mobile artefact of encounter ........................................................... 33 vi.) An encounter perspective and the limitations of the contact zone ...................................... 37 II. Exhibiting Visualizations of Cook’s Encounters ........................................................... 39 i.) Visualizations of first contact: the paintings of William Hodges ............................................ 39 ii.) Visualizations of encounter: as documentary records ........................................................ 42 iii.) Painting first meetings: encounters as emblematic events .................................................. 46 iv.) Embracing encounters’ specificity ...................................................................................... 50 III. Encounter iconography in contemporary Pacific art .................................................... 54 i.) The appeal of encounters for contemporary Pacific artists ..................................................... 54 ii.) Unexplored relationships: contemporary & eighteenth-century encounters in exhibitions 57 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 61 Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 63 Appendix A: Excerpt from the press release for James Cook: The Voyages ................................... 63 Appendix B: Excerpts from press release from the National Maritime Museum, announcing Pacific Encounters ........................................................................................................................................ 66 Emma Yandle Appendix C: Press release for Oceania ............................................................................................ 68 Appendix D: Press release Reimagining Captain Cook: Pacific Perspectives ................................ 72 Appendix E: Label text for in Pursuit of Venus [infected] in Oceania, the Royal Academy of Arts .......................................................................................................................................................... 74 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 75 Emma Yandle Terminology This work uses the broad terms ‘Indigenous’ and ‘European’, to respectively refer to cultural and social groups who are the original settlers of a land, and the countries or inhabitants of Western Europe. It does so with an awareness that both terms, useful in a comparative analysis such as this work, present an imagined collective of peoples that is not reflected by lived reality. The term ‘Indigenous’ has been used when discussing concepts or artworks ranging across the Pacific region. In individual instances, the preferred terminology of the community in question is used. Where required for clarity, countries will be named by both their European and traditional names. Any subsequent feedback on the terms employed is gratefully received. Emma Yandle Introduction Page 7 List of Figures Figure 1. Maori trading a crayfish with Joseph Banks, Tupaia, 1769, British Library, Add MS 15508, f.12 Figure 2. Joseph Banks trading with a Māori. Detail from In Pursuit of Venus [infected], by Lisa Reihana, 2015-2017. © Lisa Reihana. Figure 3. Thomas Herbert trading with a Khoi person on the beach in Table Bay. From Zee- en lant-reyse na verscheyde deelen van Asia en Africa…, by Thomas Herbert, 1665. Figure 4. Poster for James Cook: The Voyages displayed in the courtyard of the British Library, 2018. Photo by Emma Yandle. Figure 5. Representing Tupaia from Pacific Encounters, 2018. Photo by Emma Yandle. Figure 6. Joseph Banks trading with a Māori. Detail from Entanglements, by John Pule,1997. © John Pule. Figure 7. Entranceway of James Cook: The Voyages, 2018. Courtesy of the British Library. Photo by Emma Yandle. Figure 8. Entranceway of Pacific Encounters, 2018. Photo by Emma Yandle. Figure 9. Entranceway to Oceania, 2018. Photo by Emma Yandle Figure 10. Entranceway of Reimaging Captain Cook: Pacific Perspectives