British Museum forced to apologise after 'ask a curator' session sparks racism row
THE British Museum has been caught up in a racism storm after admitting they cut out some Asian names from some of their exhibitions as they are “confusing”.
The British Museum has apologised for the row
The row broke out on Twitter during a question and answer session with the public, in which one person asked: "How do you go about designing exhibition labels and information that are accessible wider range of people?"
And in response, an employee at the museum in London said it was "careful" about using too many Asian monikers, in case they cannot be understood by 16-year-old visitors.
The reply from ‘Jane, Keeper of Asia' read: "Curators write the labels based on their specialist knowledge and they are edited by our Interpretation department...
"We aim to be understandable by 16 year olds. Sometimes Asian names can be confusing, so we have to be careful about using too many.
The museum said it was "careful" about using too many Asian monikers
The row broke out on Twitter during a question and answer session with the public
"We are limited by the length of labels. Dynasties & gods have different names in various Asian languages. We want to focus on the stories.
"E.g. the Buddhist bodhisattva of mercy is known as Avalokitesvara in India, Guanyin in China, Kwanum in Korea and Kannon in Japan."
But the reply provoked a furious response online, with some criticising the museum for their “own goal” and urged staff to “revise their approach”.
One Twitter user said: "Longer labels? Technology such as touch screens, audio recordings? So many ways round this. Don't blame the 16 year olds!"
Many called the British Museum's comment 'racist'
We aim to be understandable by 16 year olds. Sometimes Asian names can be confusing, so we have to be careful about using too many.
Another said: “What kind of message are you sending to people? Especially Asians? That we are confusing by virtue of our names?”
And a third added: “White washing Asian history just to cater to Europeans. If Europeans can pronounce Arnold Schwarzenegger they will LEARN Asian names.”
Dea Birkett, creative director of Kids in Museums, said: “These names aren’t ‘confusing’ if they’re your heritage. This is a diversity issue. Do you have a problem with Pavarotti? No.
“The assumptions in this tweet are utterly unacceptable. British Museum, you should be ashamed. A diverse organisation would not say this.” She added: “Don’t #AskACurator if this is what they say. Please ask a visitor instead.
The museum, which has 1.52 million followers, later apologised
The museum, which has 1.52 million followers, later apologised for the response.
A statement from the British Museum read: “We would like to apologise for any offence caused.
"Jane was answering a very specific question about how we make information on object labels accessible to a wider range of people.
"Label text is necessarily limited and we try to tell the object's story, as well as include essential information about what it is and where it is from.
"We are not always able to reflect the complexity of different names for e.g periods, rulers, gods in different languages and cultures on labels."