Museum Musing

This morning we met at the Chinese American Museum of Art for a free flow exploration of their galleries. There are three floors of art and history exhibits that connect the guest to the stories of Chinese Americans who immigrated to the US for a variety of reasons. While I wish that we had been able to meet with a representative of the museum, spending some time just exploring with a group of like minded people was just as lovely.

One of the things that surprised me on the second floor history exhibit was the section on Chinese adoption by US families. It is certainly something I’m aware of, but seeing the numbers in front of you is a whole other story. 60,000 children have been adopted from China to the US since 1990! Considering this to be one of the largest forms immigration should not have been surprising to me but definitely was.

I really enjoyed the 45 minute movie shown the history gallery. This documentary spent time with two Chinese Americans living in Memphis, TN and compared and contrasted the experiences of several generations of Chinese Americans. While it wasn’t a Chicago specific story, I think the museum’s decision to include this film in their exhibit shows that they feel the stories of people in both Chicago and in Memphis are parallel to each other. The idea of intergenerational learning was really showcased here and it’s definitely something I want to explore more in my own museum practice. I see many families in the course of my work and I want to be encoring the generations to share their stories in the moments I have with them. Taking your elders for granted is a surefire way to lose your history.