It’s generally agreed that a trip to a museum is almost certainly educational, at times entertaining and often enlightening. The fortress-like buildings tend to be full of treasures and objects from all over the world, bringing the past to life in wondrous ways. But have you ever stopped to think how the objects found their way there and what they might say if they could tell their own stories?
In the Museum of Bad Vibes, Hanna Adan explores the cultural & spiritual significance an Akan Gold weight, Benin Bronze, a Chinese Ancestral Tablet and a Papua New Guinean Koi board; learns how they they got to be in some of the UK’s most celebrated museums and asks whether they could or should be returned to their countries and communities of origin.
It’s generally agreed that a trip to a museum is almost certainly educational, at times entertaining and often enlightening. The fortress-like buildings tend to be full of treasures and objects from all over the world, bringing the past to life in wondrous ways. But have you ever stopped to think how the objects found their way there and what they might say if they could tell their own stories?
In the Museum of Bad Vibes, Hanna Adan explores the cultural & spiritual significance an Akan Gold weight, Benin Bronze, a Chinese Ancestral Tablet and a Papua New Guinean Koi board; learns how they they got to be in some of the UK’s most celebrated museums and asks whether they could or should be returned to their countries and communities of origin.
In Chinese culture, it is believed that once a person dies their soul continues to exist. It lives on in the grave as well as in an ancestral tablet. In this episode we hear from the spirits of four sisters-in-law, hungry and neglected, these spirits travel to the living realm in search of their descendants.
Whilst the deceased embark on their journey, Hanna Adan, with the assistance of experts, explores traditional Chinese religion, the role that ancestral tablets play and ultimately asks - what is the Museum’s duty towards objects of spiritual significance, especially those without claimants?
Produced and Presented by Hanna Adan With story by George Bailey Assistant Producer and Editor: Kwaku Dapaah-Danquah Researcher: Seyi Bolarin Production Mentors: Jane Thurlow and Corinna Jones Sound Designer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Tech Producer: Bob Nettles Executive Producers: Khaliq Meer & Leanne Alie Commissioned for BBC Sounds Audio Lab by Khaliq Meer Artwork by Joshua Obeng-Boateng
