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Museum Scene in Black Panther by Kasiana Jimenez


Black Panther was a movie that transcended throughout all generations and the whole world. It ranked more than 700 million in ticket sales in just the first 12 days, taking the box office by storm (Cascone, 2018, #). The first film that had a black superhero and had a community (Wakanda) that uplifted each other while being in a position of power. At the same time, it has touched on fundamental concepts of colonialism and the ownership of African artifacts. In the scene, we are introduced to the Museum of Great Britain and the African artifacts that have. In our reading, we talked about the concept of “ The Great Divide” and this separation of high and low cultures. This concept was presented during the interwar period, when there was a great fear for war and several nations had been having technological advances. This museum scene is showing how this elite culture of museum which to profit from people that they used to call “ Savage”. 

These Museums are feeding into the narrative of collecting the “exotic” from the mindsets of colonists. Nevertheless, we are given the chance to reclaim and see the light in the scene of Black Panther. The character Eric “ Killmonger”  Stevens corrects the Museum director on facts about African tribes artifacts. The imagery of him walking around and seeing his brother and sister tribes history displayed behind glass holds symbolically the separation of low and high cultures. His character also fights back against this colonist approach and takes back what rightfully belongs to his people. As it should not be sign as something exotic or used as a power play, but rather treasured by its people and used for the reason it was created in the first place. 



Bibliography

Cascone, S. (2018). The Museum Heist Scene in ‘Black Panther’ Adds Fuel to the Debate About African Art Restitution. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/black-panther-museum-heist-restitution-1233278


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwBZlXk8LWg





 


Comments

  1. RosanaOctober 12, 2020 at 12:57 PM

    Something that I find really interesting in this scene, Kasiana, and that reminds me a lot to the Ape Shit video, is the way in which this critique is actually embedded in a hyper commercial product such as Black Panther. The commercial identity of African Americans is presented here through the patina of the British Museum, full of artifacts that, as you say in other words, are a collection on sized objects that are the quintessential example of colonialism, exploitation and suffering of the black diaspora. I'm glad that you found this scene worth of your analysis, since we will discuss it in more depth in our module about mass culture and difference!

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