London has over 240 museums.
That's a lot of places to visit. Well, could be if I wanted to see them all. I'm not going to pretend that I have some ultimate goal of going to every museum and then spend time in one I'm really just not interested in.
I do have a list of ones that are very important for me to see:
That's a hefty list, but I've got at least two years to work through it. When I was here in November I took in the National Gallery, which was unexpectedly moving.
On Saturday I attended 'The Beatles to Bowie' exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. That and Jane Brown were only two exhibits I managed to get in, but I know I'll be back for more. No photography allowed in the NPG, but The British Museum, where I went for two and a half hours on Friday, was fully open to photography.
It was absolutely dismal on the day I went. It had been raining on and off all morning. The walk from the tube to the front entrance left me damp and my glasses speckled with water. Once inside I spent some time composing myself, cleaning my glasses and removing some of my layers. I really do need to get a mac.
After looking over the map I decided to go to Hall 1 as it seemed as good a place as any to begin my exploration. I didn't adhere to any particular rhyme or reason after that, though. Once I found the replica of the Rosetta Stone in that first hall, with a plaque stating that it was on display in Hall 4, I went in search of it. I wandered from great minds and antiquities to Egypt to the Parthenon to Asia.
Just before the antiquities of Asia was a hall with all manner of interesting pieces, like decorations from the Day of The Dead and a photographic display with quotes depicting human suffering due to illness and our resiliency. In the centre of the hall was Cradle to Grave, a joint effort between the textile artist Susie Freeman and the videographer David Critchley. With the help of General Practitioner Di Liz Lee they created two strips of fabric containing all the drugs consumed in the lifetime of a woman and a man. The beginning of the display shows the vaccines they would have received as babies and young children, as well as additional treatments like cough syrup or an inhaler. The progression of the tablets as they are stretched out is followed by photos of the subjects at key points in their lives.
Following this I entered the wing with Asian Artifacts, which lead me straight to a statue of Buddha. I remember, as a kid, going to the Glenbow and seeing the Art of Asia there. One of the things they had which always stuck in my mind was the emaciated Buddha. I remember, as a child, that it didn't necessarily scare me. It sort of made me feel calm and I would sit in front of it and just stare at it. The story of this Buddha is that, before he reached enlightenment, he participated in great fasting to see if it would help him to understand human suffering. He had been born a prince and had known a life of luxury and seen the emptiness in it. He then took the path of great poverty and learned that it was no better. This was how he found the Middle Way.
Whenever I see an image of Buddha, whenever I am in the presence of one, I feel as though I could sit and be still and in that moment for ages. I always have. Even as a child, even in the face of a Buddha which looked as though it could be a demon.
The Buddha statue that greeted me in the British Museum had immense hands. The plaque about it stated it was from Burma and how it has been created and when, but it did not say why his hands were so disproportionate to his body. I imagine it is so offerings could be laid in them.
Either way, it was a beautiful statue and I spent a little over an hour in this wing, exploring the Buddhas from China, Thailand and India.
But one cannot spend all their days in museums, despite the 'by donation' cost to get in and all the wings they have to offer. I had a job interview at an art shop that I couldn't be late for, and so I bid the British Museum farewell, fully intending to be back another day.
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