British Museum Quotes

“La desgracia de Adam Appleby era que, en cuanto despertaba del sueño, su conciencia se inundaba inmediatamente de todo aquello en lo que menos deseaba pensar. Tenía la impresión de que otros hombres se enfrentaban a cada nuevo amanecer con la mente y el corazón renovados, llenos de optimismo y decisión; o bien de que se arrastraban ganduleando durante la primera hora del día en un estado de bendito sopor, incapaces de pensar en nada, ni agradable ni desagradable. Pero, agazapados como arpías en torno a su cama, los pensamientos desagradables esperaban para asaltarle tan pronto como Adam parpadease y abriera los ojos. En aquel momento se veía obligado, como alguien que se ahoga, a examinar su vida entera, dividido entre lamentaciones por el pasado y miedos futuros.”
― David Lodge, The British Museum Is Falling Down

“Adam había sacado la conclusión que, de todas las industrias del país, la reparación de vespas era la que representaba una mayor sobredemanda respecto a la oferta. En teoría, a quien se dispusiese a satisfacer esa demanda le esperaba una fortuna; pero en el fondo de su corazón Adam dudaba de que las vespas fuesen reparables, en el sentido normal del término; eran las mariposas de la carretera, organismos frágiles que tardaban mucho en ser fabricados y muy poco en morir.”
― David Lodge, The British Museum Is Falling Down

“Una curva de la calle puso ante su vista el campanario de la catedral de Westminster, la forma fálica más descarada del horizonte londinense.”
― David Lodge, The British Museum Is Falling Down

“Cambiando de postura en el sillín, Adam pensó que la forma en que su humilde vida seguía los moldes de la literatura tenía algo como de metempsicosis. ¿O quizá -se preguntó, hurgándose la nariz- era consecuencia de estudiar tan detenidamente las estructuras de las frases de los novelistas ingleses? Uno se había resignado a no tener ya un lenguaje privado, pero se aferraba melancólicamente a la ilusión de poseer los hechos de su vida.”
― David Lodge, The British Museum Is Falling Down

“- Andiamo al British Museum.
Detto fatto. Per non perderci, ci demmo appuntamento a mezzogiorno in Mesopotamia. Non è una cosa da tutti i giorni poter fissare un appuntamento in un posto del genere.
In quel tipo di edifici, apprezzo ancora di più l’insieme che il dettaglio. Mi piace passeggiare, senza altra logica che il mio piacere, dall’antico Egitto alle Galapagos passando per Sumer. Ingozzarmi di tutta l’assiriologia mi rimarrebbe sullo stomaco, mentre piluccare qualche carattere cuneiforme a mo’ di aperitivo, rune come antipasto, la stele di Rosetta come piatto principale e delle mani a negativo preistoriche come dessert manda in estasi le mie papille.
Quello che non sopporto, nei musei, è il passo lento e solenne che le persone si credono obbligate in cuor loro ad adottare. Quanto a me, mi sposto con passo ginnico, abbracciando con lo sguardo vaste prospettive: che si tratti di archeologia o di pittura impressionista, ho notato i vantaggi di questo metodo. Il primo è evitare l’atroce effetto guida turistica: “Ammirate la bonarietà dello sceicco el-Beled: non vi sembra di averlo incrociato ieri al mercato?” oppure: “Una controversia oppone la Grecia e il Regno Unito a proposito del fregio del Partenone.” Il secondo è concomitante al primo: rende impossibili i commenti all’uscita dal museo. I Bouvard e Pécuchet moderni devono chiudere il becco. Il terzo vantaggio, e non il meno importante per quanto mi riguarda, è che impedisce l’insorgere del terribile mal di schiena museale.
Intorno a mezzogiorno, mi resi conto di essermi persa. Affrontai un responsabile in questi termini:
– Mesopotamia, please.
– Third floor, turn to the left – mi venne risposto nel modo più semplice possibile.
E questa è la dimostrazione che ci si sbaglia nel ritenere la Mesopotamia tanto inaccessibile.”
― Amélie Nothomb, Pétronille

“C’era forse un posto più noioso al mondo del British Museum? Se c’era, Will non voleva sapere quale. Vasi. Monete. Brocche. Intere sale piene di piatti. Secondo Will doveva esserci uno scopo per mettere in mostra delle cose, e il fatto che fossero vecchie non significava necessariamente che fossero interessanti. Solo perché erano sopravvissute al tempo, non significava che tu volessi guardarle”
― Nick Hornby, About a Boy

“Our goal here is to show that this, however popular, image is actually based on very, very biased accounts and therefore we should challenge it. The Nero story is about how we should approach information, how we should always approach our sources critically. This is relevant for Nero, it’s relevant for historians, archaeologists, it is relevant for everyday people living their everyday lives.”
― Thorsten Opper, Nero: The Man Behind the Myth

“I am not setting out here to rehabilitate Nero as a blameless man. But I have come to the conclusion that almost every single thing we think we know about him is wrong.”
― Thorsten Opper, Nero: The Man Behind the Myth

“Same-sex love has often been relegated to the margins of art as problematic (and preferably tragic).”
― R. B. Parkinson

“Same-sex love has often been relegated to the margins of art as problematic (and preferably tragic).”
― R.B. Parkinson, A Little Gay History: Desire and Diversity Around the World

“Museums of primitive art are filled with masks, figurines, bas-relief sculptures, all looted from all over the world and robbed of their meanings. For those who created them, life resided not in the object itself, but rather in the spirit that inspired it. A corpse, even one artistically entombed, is still a dead body. They are no longer works of art, but simply objects. They are beautiful, whereas they should be alive, From time immemorial, humans have sculpted to magnify their gods. There is a reason why some religions are against any depiction of their gods while others are committed to the practice. There is some form of highly human insolence in recreating the god that created you, and there is a risk of adoring the tangible representation in itself instead of the discarnate deity. That is what sculpture is: both a tribute and a challenge to the gods. Some spiritualities tolerate this ambivalence, others don't. Others yet use representations to further tighten control over their flock and guarantee their submissiveness. They select the artists and dictate the dogma they should represent.
Sculpture is both the easiest and the most delicate of art forms. It is more than just hewing a form out of a compact block, or reproducing a model: you have to breathe life into It. That is not something you can learn or improvise. There is always some part of yourself that you infuse into the material. In our modern world, where art is a business like any other, techniques are taught, but the magic, on the other hand, is still a gift, midway between bliss and suffering.”
― Hemley Boum, Days Come and Go

“Carry on Up The Tower (The Sonnet)

British museum is not a repository of relics,
it's a time capsule of british barbarism.
It's a classic case of cannibalism, narcissism,
kleptomania and psychopathy combined in one.

Tower of London is not a heritage site,
it's the Bedlam of the british.
The title of "heritage site" belongs
to memories of pride, not primitives.

Buckingham palace is not a noble home,
it's the national zoo of England,
where they coddle massacre 'n stagnation,
with no civil initiative for atonement.

Nobility of blood is nobility of the jungle,
modern nobility involves substance of character,
whose identity isn't anchored in transgressions,
bloodline defines chimps, humans by behavior.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Brit Actually: Nursery Rhymes of Reparations

“British museum is not a repository of relics, it's a time capsule of british barbarism.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Brit Actually: Nursery Rhymes of Reparations

“British museum is not a repository of relics, it's a time capsule of british barbarism. It's a classic case of cannibalism, narcissism, kleptomania and psychopathy combined in one.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Brit Actually: Nursery Rhymes of Reparations

“Jack and Jill (Colonial Sonnet)

Jack and Jill once went up a hill,
to pick the fabled golden fruit.
So they trapped some blacks-n-browns,
to serve them tireless hand and foot.

Jack and Jill had a glorious dream,
to make the world imperially great.
So they bought some colored folks,
to boss around from their noble bed.

Jack and Jill were full of themselves,
they nicked 'n nicked without repercussion.
Like shameless filth then they sold tickets,
exhibiting the spoils of their barbarism.

Jack and Jill were textbook white trash,
not the right idols of civilized society.
You cannot unscrew their diabolical screwups,
just have the decency to not repeat history.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Brit Actually: Nursery Rhymes of Reparations