New Delhi: The British Museum had a massive social media faux pas on Wednesday, and Twitter didn’t take much time to explode and get back at the Museum for its ‘offensive’ remark.
The British Museum had hosted an ‘Ask a curator’ programme with Jane Portal, ‘Keeper of Asia’ for Twitter users. The museum was taking part in #AskACurator on Twitter, in which staff at museums around the world answered questions.
The Q&A session was going smoothly until a user asked – “How do you go about designing exhibition labels and information that is accessible to a wide range of people?”
How do you go about designing exhibition labels and information that are accessible to a wider range of people? #AskACurator — MAAS (@maasmuseum) September 13, 2017
Things went haywire after Portal responded to the question with an extremely ‘offensive’ remark. Jane Portal said, “We aim to be understandable by 16-year-olds. Sometimes Asian names can be confusing, so we have to be careful about using too many.”
... We aim to be understandable by 16 year olds. Sometimes Asian names can be confusing, so we have to be careful about using too many. — British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
“Curators write the labels based on their specialist knowledge and they are edited by our Interpretation department,” Portal added.
Jane, Keeper of Asia: Curators write the labels based on their specialist knowledge and they are edited by our Interpretation department ... https://t.co/b1nP0CQ0fS — British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
The remark was perceived by many as being ‘racist,’ which soon led to massive outrage on Twitter. Below are some tweets showing how people gave it back to the Museum authorities in their own style:
5 year olds will confidently rattle off five-syllable dinosaur names. So...! — sam shelley (@hermesgypsy) September 13, 2017
If you can pronounce and buy Canon, you can pronounce any name. Especially if you can pronounce Russian consonant filled names — Sudarshan :D (@simplysud) September 13, 2017
Frankly, if your struggling with being clear on Twitter, then museum labels are probably not your thing. — Andrew (@brixtandrew) September 13, 2017
Easy fix. Instead of being reductive give these treasures back to their rightful cultural centers since you can't be bothered w accuracy. — CR @ NYCC (@wordyblerd) September 13, 2017
Wonder if the brits found Asian names confusing when they were fighting alongside the British army. — Nafisa/ Amaliah.com (@Nafisa_Bakkar) September 13, 2017
If they can understand Targaryen, Lannister, Baelish, Melisandre and Baratheon they can wrap their heads around Ramachandran or Viswanathan! — Melissa Therms (@MelissaTherms) September 13, 2017
My name is Dawinderpal Singh. People have called me Dawinderpal since primary school. If 5 year olds can do it, why can't 16 year olds???? — Dawinderpal Singh (@Dawinderpal) September 13, 2017
Jane, Keeper of Asia: Curators write the labels based on their specialist knowledge and they are edited by our Interpretation department ... https://t.co/b1nP0CQ0fS — British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
Jane, Keeper of Asia: Curators write the labels based on their specialist knowledge and they are edited by our Interpretation department ... https://t.co/b1nP0CQ0fS — British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
Jane, Keeper of Asia: Curators write the labels based on their specialist knowledge and they are edited by our Interpretation department ... https://t.co/b1nP0CQ0fS — British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
Meanwhile, realising its mistake, The British Museum immediately issued a clarification and apologised on their Twitter handle.
Apologies, we would just like to add some further clarification here: pic.twitter.com/t9xnJ8rJ3S — British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
In response to your comments, we feel it's important to address a few final points here: pic.twitter.com/3cRkiwePtU — British Museum (@britishmuseum) September 13, 2017
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