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National Narratives in Maritime
and Ethnic Museums
andCARL GRODACH
ANASTASIALOUKAITOU-SIDERIS
wesurvey thescope,role,andmission
ofethnicmuseumsinLosAngeles,and
discusscasestudiesof threeLosAngelesethnicmuseums
thatrangeinsize,
mission,andhistory.
andForums:TheEvolvingRoleofMainstream
Temples Museums
Historically,
museums havebeendeeplyinvolved intheformation andin-
terpretationof identityandhistory.However, ratherthanserving asa dem-
ocratic
forumtodebateandexchange ideasontherepresentation ofidentity
andhistory, theearlymuseumfunctioned moreasa civictemple-a space
thatauthenticated andconsecrated thevaluesofthebourgeoisie andnation-
stateasanobjective realityforallto emulate.9Astemple,themuseum con-
tributedto reinforcing thevaluesof a selectsegmentof society,whileoften
subordinating competing viewsandagendas. Suchmuseums servednotonly
asrepositories of elitecultureandnational heritage,butalsoasspacesthat
categonzed cultural differences alonga hierarchyof raceandclass.l°
Aspublicmuseums, theseinstitutions wereopento everyone7 buttheir
emphasis onthedisplay of eliteculturepractically
servedto excludea large
segment ofthepublic.Inthisway,earlypublic museums created theirpublics
by providing a definitive space,the artmuseum,whichwasdevotedto a
specificactivity:
thecultivation ofartappreciation asa markofeliteculture.
Museum userswerepassiveobservers of displays
andeffiibitsthatwerese-
lectedby museumboardmembers, whoset the standards of taste.More-
over,museum exhibits largely servedtonaturalizehierarchiesofculturaldif-
ferences,visuallydistinguishing betweenthe museum's publicandthe
4'other."
Earlypublicmuseums arranged objectsalonga sequenceof pro-
gressivestagesimplying thatasobjectswereincreasingly moresophisticated
andtechnical, sowerethepeoplewhocreatedthem.Museum anthropolo-
gistsandeffiibition curators froze"primitive cultures"in thepastthrough
theconstruction ofevolutionary narratives
ofhumanity andconstructed racial
difference throughmuseumexhibitions.ll In otherwords,anthropologists
andmuseumprofessionals, whoactually arguedforsocialequality, helped
toconstruct racialinequality withinthepurportedly democratic publicspace
between1998and2000weremuseums onspecializedtopicssuchasethnic
orculturalffiemes.17
Theethnicmuseum hasbeenhailedbyadvocates asanalternativesiteof
culturalproduction andasa promoter
andexhibition of ethniccultureand
According
identity. to E. BarryGaither, of theMuseum
director of theNa-
tioIlalCenterofAfrican
AmericanArtists,
Culturallyspecificmuseumshavea uniqueroleto playin forginga newAmer-
ica.Grounded withparticular
inhistoricheritagesassociated they
communities,
provideintimatemodelsforthepartnership anddialoguewhichmuseumsand
theircommunities maydevelop.Responding to social,cultural,andeducational
needs7thesemuseumsparficipate simultaneouslyto afBrrn ie wori andcon-
tributionsof minoritypeoples.l8
Although theethnicmuseum is seenbymanyasa keeperof ethnicandcul-
turaltraditions-asa meansforrecalling whathasbeenlostandretaining a
senseof culturalidentitythatis differentfromthe mainstream-critics
chargethattheethnicmuseum toooftenassumes anauthoritativestanceto-
wardscultural authenticitythatleavesnoroomforchange.18 Whereas oppo-
nentshavelamented thethreatof cultural balkanizationandfragmentation
acrossracial,ethnic,orclasslines,20advocates haveseentheethnicmuseum
asamediator betweentheethniccommunity andthelarger Bymak-
public.21
ingethnicculturesorhistories visibleto a largeraudience,theethnicmu-
seumis educating thelargercityaudienceandbnngingto themainstream
thecultureit represents. Importantly7 byestablishing somethingasperma-
nentandvisibleasa museum7 theethniccultureis conveying themessage of
comingof age;it is givinganevidenceof itspermanence andstability.
Another reasonfortheflourishing ofethnicmuseums hasbeenthewide-
spread sentiment amongethniccommunities thatmainstream museums have
marginalized andexcluded '<othercultures. KarenDavalos poignantlysum-
marizes thisfeeling:"Thepublicmuseum doesnotcollectourhistonesand
particularly
e2mperiences, notourart.Itdoesnotcategorize ourcultural
prod-
uctsas'American7 butmarginalizes them,evenplacingtheminthehallways
andothermakeshift galleries."22
Thepreponderance of ethnicmuseums canalsobe partlyattributedto
theproliferationof cultural andethnictouxism. Thus,aswe willsee in the
casestudies,someeffinicmuseums anincreasing
alsoaspireto attract flow
oftounstswhoseektodiscover howtheirdiaspora havefaredintheforeign
23. Ibid.,41.
24. See SusanCiccoti."HighArtin L.A.:A Previewof AAM'sAnnualMeetingCity,"in Mu-
seum News (January/February,1998)andthe GreaterLos AngelesArts ResourceDirectory (4th
ed.) (LosAngeles:ArtsResourcesandTechnicalServices,Inc, 1999).
25. Weshouldnotethat"whiteness'7 or ratherlackthereofwasnot a determiningfactorin
Ascanbe seen in Tablel, someof theseinstitutions
of a museumas "ethnic."
ourclassification
56 . THEPUBLICHISTORIAN
representandcelebratethecultureandhistoryof specificwhitegroups,whicharedistinguished
fromthe whiteAnglo-Saxon populationby theirethnicbackground (e.g.Italian,Ukrainian)
or
religion(Jewish).
26. GreaterLos AngelesArts ResourceDirectory.
ACTIVITIES,
OF FUNCTIONS)
TABLE1. SURVEY O
ANDMODESOF REPRESENTATIO
Functions
Commanity Entertairzn?en
Museum Service/ Education Research and
Institution Display Center Prograrns Center Perforrnance
AfricanAmerican
FirefighterMuseum x
BlackInventions
MuseumInc. x
California
Afncan
AmericanMuseum x x x x x
ChineseAmencan
MuseuminLosAngeles x x x x
ItalianCultural
Institute x x x x
JapaneseAmerican
NationalMuseum x x x x x
KoreanAmerican
Museum x x x
LatinoMuseum
of History,ArtandCulture x x
LosAngeles
Museumof the Holocaust x x
Table1 continued
Museum in
Black x x x
Museum of
AfricanAmericanArt x
Museum of
Latin Amencan Art x x x
Museum of
Tolerance x x x
PacificAsia Museum x x x
PhilippineAmexican
National Museum x x x x
Pico RiveraCenter
for the Arts x
Skirball
CulturalCenter x x x x
Southwest Museum:
Native Cultures
oftheAmericas x x x
UkrainianArt
Center x x x x
WattsTowersArtCtr. x x x x
ETHNICMUSEUMSIN LOSANCELES . 59
TABLE2. CONTENTANALYSIS
OF MISSIONSTATEMENTS
OFTWENTY
ETHNICMUSEUMS
IN LOSANGELES27
Promote 5 Contribution 6
Celebrate 2 Appreciation 3
Recognize 1 Achievement 2 Museumas advocate
Advance 1 Pride 1 of ethnicculture
Occurrences 9 12 21
Understand 5 Education 6
Interpret 3 Awareness 1 Museumasintepreter
Inform 1 of cultureandhistory
Occurrences 9 7 16
Share 2 Diversity 3
Exchange 1 Forum/publicarena 3
Bridge 1 Interaction 2
Outreach 1
Understanding Museumas zone
betweencultures 1 of contact
Occurrences 4 10 14
Preserve 5 Heritage 7 Museumaskeeper
Remember 1 Tradition 1 of ethnictraditions
Occurrences 6 8 14
Challenge 2 Prejudice 1
Confront 1 Bias 1 Museumassite
Racism 1 of contest
Occurrences 3 3 6
Preserve 4 1
Repository(ofknowledge)
Educate 3 Learninglaboratory 1
Reveal 2 Forumforideas 1
Enhance 1 Exchangeof ideas 1 Museumas keeper
Enrich 1 Discovery 1 andenhancer
Explore 1 Investigation 1 of knowledge
Occurrences 12 6 18
InteIpret 1 Interpretation 4 Museumas interpreter
Understand 1 Understanding 3 of artandhistory
Occurrences 2 7 9
Support 2 Haven
Protect 1 (forscholarship) 1
Foster 1
Promote 1 Museumas advocate
Encourage 1 of art/history/scholarship
Occurrences 6 1 7
Inspire 3
Delight 1 Museumas site
Enjoy 1 anddelight
of inspiration
Occurrences 5 5
Engage 2 Connection 1 Museumas site of contact
Link 1 between(1)pastandpresent,
Connect 1 and(2) artistsandpublic
Occurrences 4 1 5
30. Brian Breye, Museum in Black,interviewby the authors,Los Angeles, Calif. 30 January
2002.
31. Ibid.
66 * THEPUBLICHISTORIAN
32. Ibid.
33. "Museumin BlackFalls into Red,"Los Angeles Times,S July2002.
ETHNICMUSEUMSIN LOSANGELES * 67
34. Nancy Araki, Director of Community Affairs, Japanese American National Museum,
interview by the authors, Los Angeles, Calif., 6 February 2002.
35. Ibid.
68 . THEPUBLICHISTORIAN
36. Gregorio Luke, cited in Suzanne Muchnic, '<Art,Bridging the Cuban Divide,'7Los Arz-
geles Times, 14 May 2000.
37. Ibid.
38. Anonymous curator, Museum of Latin AmericanArt, Long Beach, Calif., interview by
Carl Grodach, 11 March 2002.
-7^ 'rTTU T)TTT)T Tp ITTCwTfAT) T A XT
U * 111L 1 UVlJlt lllJlUlllA15
Conclusion