ALL THE THINGS: BBC'S THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 100 OBJECTS

Object of the Week | Carly Hall

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If you had to select 100 objects to depict the history of the world, what would you choose?

BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum decided to tackle this question, producing a 100-part radio series written and hosted by the former Director of the Museum, Neil MacGregor. The 2010 series, titled A History of the World in 100 Objects, was a hit; MacGregor captured the imaginations of millions of listeners as he recounted 2 million years of human history. The project was so successful that the British Museum was awarded the Art Fund Prize in 2011 for hosting the series.

The History of the World in 100 Objects collection. Source.

I’ve listened to the series in the past, and I too was enthralled by MacGregor’s storytelling and by the history of the objects. I was caught up in the symbolisms and the deeper, greater meanings and implications of the objects. But I’ve always wondered about the selection process in choosing the objects. The list is divided into 20 groups, each group covering a few hundred years of human experience. These groups are then composed of 5 objects intended to demonstrate important themes of each group (i.e., the Mass Production, Mass Persuasion [1780-1914 CE] group is made up of a ship’s chronometer from HMS Beagle, an early Victorian tea set, Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave,’ a Sudanese slit drum, and a suffragette defaced penny). All objects were chosen exclusively from the British Museum’s collection; however, the online collection allowed international institutions and individuals to submit objects they felt deserved a place in world history. Some examples include Sputnik 1, 1979 Honda Civic, the condom, and a JFK/Johnson election campaign badge.

Now if you’re anything like me, you’re probably thinking: how can someone possible condense 2 million years of human experience into 100 objects? We have created a limitless inventory of objects for countless reasons and purposes, and it seems like an impossibly daunting task to choose a handful of things to describe our collective experience. Moreover, analysing The History of the World in 100 Objects requires us to consider the person/organization creating the list. Admittedly, I do not know BBC Radio's and the British Museum's intentions in creating this broadcast series. However, it seems to me that selecting popular objects exclusively from the Museum's collection (such a Parthenon Sculpture, a Hoa Hakananai'a Easter Island Statue, the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Lewis Chessmen) is a way to remind audiences of the Museum's power and seniority as a globally renown institution. On the flip side, it is a way to present objects to the public on a grander scale; the radio series, book, and online collection is internationally available free of charge.

While the website has a space for audiences and museums to submit their own objects, it would have been beneficial for the British Museum to partner with other institutions and cultural leaders. Doing so would have allowed the list to better reflect human history, not only by being inclusive to other collections, but also by reflecting culturally diverse voices. I'm not saying that the list is not culturally diverse. There are objects from many other counties and regions outside of Europe, such as North and South American indigenous communities, Africa, China, India, Iran Japan, Oceania and Russia. However, I cannot say for certain whether or not BBC and the British Museum collaborated with living source communities for this project.

I suppose that's the problem with trying to narrate human history using only 100 objects from just one institution; you risk overlooking objects that hold great importance to specific individuals or cultures. However, in keeping with the scope of the original list, the following is a brief list of objects from the British Museum that I think could have made the list:

A wampum belt, possible produced by Delaware or Iroquois peoples of North America. Wampum belts are significant forms of communication. They are records of history, transcending and challenging Western perceptions of legal documentation, especially pertaining to treaties between indigenous communities and European settlers.

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Hans Burkhardt’s 1948 lithograph, “After the Bomb.” an apocalyptic scene expressing the horrors of war and the terrifying possibility of nuclear holocaust. The invention of nuclear energy and weapons has impacted humans socially and politically, with fatal, long-lasting repercussions as seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Chernobyl.

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Paa Joe's eagle-shaped coffin, created in 2000. Humans have always placed importance on the funeral celebrations/arrangements for their deceased. The Ga-speaking people of Ghana began creating these artistic coffins in the 1950s, introducing a new tradition of figurative coffins inspired by the eagle-shaped palanquins historically used by community leaders. The creation of new machinery, carpentry workshops, and the emergence of middle classes propelled this style of coffin to national and international popularity.

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Ilka Gedo's self portrait. Ilka was a Holocaust survivor, and completed a series of self-portraits in 1944 while she was in the Budapest ghetto. Honestly, I was surprised when I saw that the original list excluded an object associated with World War II or the Holocaust. I don't know what draws me to this self-portrait, but I find something beautifully defiant and resilient in creating art amidst the horrors of war.

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I encourage you to take a look at the The History of the World in 100 Objects and the British Museum's online collection and decide for yourself if you think they've missed something. In the meantime, I will leave you with a question: what object do you think is fundamentally essential to The History of the World in 100 Objects?