Mathers Museum displays culture

A can of Coke and a Papua New Guinean portrait skull share common ground in an exhibit at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. \nThey are both parts of culture in the exhibit titled "Thoughts, Things and Theories ... What Is Culture?" \n"Culture explains who we are and the context of why we do what we do," said Judith A. Kirk, assistant director of the Mathers Museum. "Our lives are shaped by what we do. If you want to understand someone, you have to understand the cultural context (of their action)." \nAlong with the display of the Coke can and the decorated skull, the exhibit features a comparison of a two 1967 families, one from Bloomington and the other from Nigeria.\nThe hands-on households, which allow visitors to interact with the exhibit in such ways as opening the refrigerator in the Bloomington house and sitting on ornate stools in the Nigerian huts, also feature projections of the members of the respective families talking about their lives.\nThe Mathers Museum staff chose to feature a Nigerian family and home because they had a variety of Nigerian items and had two staff members that had lived in Nigeria, Kirk said. \nThe households are one aspect of the exhibit that will change over time, and other cultures, such as a Pakistani household, will replace the homes. \n"We may change the casework, objects and scenes, but they'll still all be tied together (by) this notion of 'What is culture?'" Kirk said. \nKirk said she and the staff hope people who visit the exhibit will begin to reflect on their own cultures. \n"For us as a museum, we want to demonstrate how objects in everyday lives are constructed by culture, and that the objects you have show who you are," she said. \nThe museum is located at 416 N. Indiana Ave. and is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.indiana.edu/~mathers.