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sharkybookshelf's review
4.0
A collection of pieces by ten Latin American writers inspired by items in the British Museum’s Central and South American Collection which comprises some 62,000 objects.
I enjoyed this, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting - I clearly read the blurb wrong, because I thought it was going to be essays in response to items in the collection, and I was definitely expecting ten essays asking why the heck these items are held by the British Museum and the questionable ways they were probably acquired (perfectly reasonable questions by the way).
But this is actually an intriguing set of short stories and essays that each use an object within the museum’s collection as a jumping off point - some are more directly tied to their chosen object than others. It’s a brilliant idea and a very good read - I particularly enjoyed the curators’ introductions to each piece which provide some context, though I do wish the object photographs were in colour. As with any collection, I enjoyed some pieces more than others, but it was fascinating to see which object each author chose and where they went with it.
Whilst it wasn’t the critical take-down I expected (though there are some veiled references), taken together the essays and stories do prompt interesting questions about the storytelling around objects in museums, objects shown out of context and interpreting the past when there are significant gaps in the information about objects.
An enjoyable and varied collection of essays and short stories, well worth a read if you have any interest in museums and the stories they tell.
mirva's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This collection of creative essays would be a great read for anyone interesting in preservation of art and culture, museum history, and reflecting on what we can know from the artefacts left behind by the generations that came before us. The collection has been created in dialogue with the British museum, and the recent discourse over the museum collections gives yet another lense to look through this work.
qomareads's review
4.0
A significant and inspirational book. Untold Microcosms is a marvellous collection of stories inspired by various Latin American objects in the British Museum.
10 Latin American writers told their unique perspectives using fiction and personal stories, discussing Latin American cultural aspects of the Indigenous peoples and, most importantly, bringing voices and identity to it.
Most of the objects embody and represent the history, memory, and experiences of their past selves, and it’s our jobs to learn and tell the stories that most of us don’t know. It is a sad reminder of what has been lost and what has actually happened to indigenous peoples, particularly when everything has been forgotten and exploited.
The tone of the book was somehow tinged with sadness, a forlorn figure stood by, waiting for its story to be told. Overall, it’s hopeful, to educate our former selves to appreciate what we have and conserve and preserve it while we can.
In a way, it reminds me of our own Orang Asli in Malaysia, where we should actually re-evaluate and cherish indigenous nature and culture before they are lost forever.
Thank you Charco Press for the review copy. Appreciate it. ☺️
10 Latin American writers told their unique perspectives using fiction and personal stories, discussing Latin American cultural aspects of the Indigenous peoples and, most importantly, bringing voices and identity to it.
Most of the objects embody and represent the history, memory, and experiences of their past selves, and it’s our jobs to learn and tell the stories that most of us don’t know. It is a sad reminder of what has been lost and what has actually happened to indigenous peoples, particularly when everything has been forgotten and exploited.
The tone of the book was somehow tinged with sadness, a forlorn figure stood by, waiting for its story to be told. Overall, it’s hopeful, to educate our former selves to appreciate what we have and conserve and preserve it while we can.
In a way, it reminds me of our own Orang Asli in Malaysia, where we should actually re-evaluate and cherish indigenous nature and culture before they are lost forever.
Thank you Charco Press for the review copy. Appreciate it. ☺️
naddie_reads's review
4.0
"Untold Microcosms" is a beautifully curated selection of essays on the Central and South American collection of artifacts in the British Museum. It's a well-known fact in colonialist history that the British-led empire and its ilk unethically 'source' the artifacts in their museum from the countries and indigenous people they have colonized. To date, this open secret still goes unrecognized by the current countries benefiting from this exploitation of other people's cultures. Needless to say, no attempt at apologies or reparations can be expected by these colonizers, judging by the continuous silence on the issue.
Hence, this collection of essays from ten Latin American authors attempts to reclaim what has been taken by infusing their own interpretation of these lost and stolen objects in essays on various subjects and themes. From ceramic bowls to sculptures to feather headdresses acquired from all over America, there's always something interesting to discover within these pages. My personal favorites are "The Wichí Community" (on the Wichí community's continual fight for survival amidst more loss of the nature they depend on), "Tongues Hanging Out" (on the similarities of capitalism and slave labor), and "In The Land of Weeping Trees" (on the gradual loss of the old ways as modernity creeps in), though of course all of them require thorough reading in order to appreciate the full scale of the exploitation and loss of heritage.
This definitely ranks amongst my favorite books published by Charco Press; highly recommended!
Hence, this collection of essays from ten Latin American authors attempts to reclaim what has been taken by infusing their own interpretation of these lost and stolen objects in essays on various subjects and themes. From ceramic bowls to sculptures to feather headdresses acquired from all over America, there's always something interesting to discover within these pages. My personal favorites are "The Wichí Community" (on the Wichí community's continual fight for survival amidst more loss of the nature they depend on), "Tongues Hanging Out" (on the similarities of capitalism and slave labor), and "In The Land of Weeping Trees" (on the gradual loss of the old ways as modernity creeps in), though of course all of them require thorough reading in order to appreciate the full scale of the exploitation and loss of heritage.
This definitely ranks amongst my favorite books published by Charco Press; highly recommended!
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