Join us this Tuesday June 9th at 1PM Eastern (6PM London) as we welcome to the program Dr. Sally-Ann Ashton, Egyptologist/Psychologist. We will discuss a wide variety of topics including her research in Egyptology, the African character of the Egyptians, her time at the British Museum, her position as curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum, and her current transition in the field of psychology. This is a dynamic guest and we are glad to have her on the program. So like, set your reminder, and share with friends and colleagues.
posted
Just a reminder that this show is today at 1PM Eastern standard time (U.S.) and 6PM London time. Hope to see you there.
Posts: 853 | From: Houston | Registered: Nov 2007
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posted
Thanks for doing this interview. Very interesting discussion, and I'm going to have to listen to it a few times and in instalments.
As someone whose also worked in the Criminal Justice system in the UK, I would of been interested to know more about identity formation and offending in relation to Kemet - to what extent does a skewed version of history (i.e. where emphasis is on slavery not Kemet), not material poverty and lack of adequate resources produce a faulty identity, and to what extent does presenting Kemet in its African context solidly improve things for people of African descent, specifically those labelled 'offenders' ?
Posts: 61 | From: UK | Registered: Aug 2016
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quote:Originally posted by Asar Imhotep: Just a reminder that this show is today at 1PM Eastern standard time (U.S.) and 6PM London time. Hope to see you there.
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Having had listened through again, the impression Im left with is that she focuses the issue of racial inequality and offending on culture and identity rather than structural inequalities. Theres mention of museums being white middle class (and colonial) spaces, but I would like to know more about how this links to policy and structural inequalities ie how do working class Black and non-white people benefit from middle class spaces like galleries and museums including them, and why do ordinary people need some sort of validation from the bourgeoise (people working in arts, academia and therapy) ?
Posts: 61 | From: UK | Registered: Aug 2016
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posted
Thank you for your commentary and questions. As it regards your first statements, the show wasn't about structural inequality and wasn't meant to answer questions along those lines. A simple answer would be to start your own Egyptian museum where you control the politics and resources. But given that most of the artifacts have already been unearthed from Egypt, and are already housed in various museums, if you want to view and study primary artifacts, you have to go to these spaces to do so.
Secondly, there are a number of benefits to people visiting museums. But none of them will benefit anyone (poor or rich) if you aren't intellectually astute and hungry for knowledge. That's like asking, "What purpose does a library serve poor people?" We have to be a bit more wiser than this. The first benefit is to satisfy a wisdom seeker's curiosity. From there they may be inspired to learn more about history, or themselves, and create history themselves. Museums house the relics and expressions of humanity's greatest minds and artists and we display these things to inspire a new generation to follow in their footsteps. So if you don't see the benefit of these spaces, especially since most museums have at least one day that is open to the public for free (usually Tuesdays) then there is not much we can say here.
quote:Originally posted by Karem: Having had listened through again, the impression Im left with is that she focuses the issue of racial inequality and offending on culture and identity rather than structural inequalities. Theres mention of museums being white middle class (and colonial) spaces, but I would like to know more about how this links to policy and structural inequalities ie how do working class Black and non-white people benefit from middle class spaces like galleries and museums including them, and why do ordinary people need some sort of validation from the bourgeoise (people working in arts, academia and therapy) ?
posted
Thats ok, and thanks for doing the interview.
the show wasn't about structural inequality and wasn't meant to answer questions along those lines.
I assumed that its in Dr Ashtons capacity as psychologist that she works in the therapy industry with marginalized groups (offenders) so thought there would be discussion regarding structural inequalities as this disproportionately impacts them. Instead it felt like she was implying the causes of racial inequalities are cultural.
Museums house the relics and expressions of humanity's greatest minds and artists and we display these things to inspire a new generation to follow in their footsteps. So if you don't see the benefit of these spaces, especially since most museums have at least one day that is open to the public for free (usually Tuesdays) then there is not much we can say here.
Indeed, and its not that I dont see the potential benefits of this, but Im also not sure placing culture in the centre of conversations about racial inequality is useful, plus not sure to what extent Egyptology, which is an elite white interest rooted in colonialism can help marginalized people.
Posts: 61 | From: UK | Registered: Aug 2016
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