Exhibition explores big game hunter’s legacy
Collaboration between Scarborough and Democratic Republic of the Congo
Anew exhibition at Scarborough Art Gallery explores the impact of the actions of an East Yorkshire big game hunter whose exploits included creating a ‘human zoo’ of indigenous people. From Local to Global is part of a project at Scarborough Museums and Galleries, which involved people in the Borough of Scarborough and beyond in conversations about race and the environment, forging links with researchers and conservationists across the UK and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The project is based around a group of objects in the museum and art galleries collection: the Harrison Collection, brought back from Africa by Colonel James Jonathan Harrison (18571923) of Brandesburton Hall in East Yorkshire, many of which will be seen in the exhibition.
Wealthy landowner and big game hunter Harrison undertook expeditions around the world to hunt animals for sport. In 1905, he brought back six indigenous Bambuti people from the Ituri Forest in what was then known as the Congo Free State, whom he toured around the country as a ‘human zoo’ for his own financial gain.
The exhibition looks at the legacy of British colonialists like Harrison in today’s world, and how attitudes around race, positioning white British people as above those of colonised countries, still influence attitudes today.
The Harrison Collection of artefacts collected by or belonging to Harrison includes taxidermied animals, diaries, gramophone discs and photographs, creating a comprehensive record of our colonial past.
His widow, Mary Stetson Harrison, gave the collection to Scarborough Corporation, where it was put on display in a room named after him – now the Concert Room at Scarborough Library.
In the 1950s, the collection moved to the Wood End Natural History Museum and was absorbed within the museum’s collection, remaining largely forgotten for several decades.
This new exhibition explores the Harrison Collection as a new, dynamic archive and includes artistic responses from artists Ila Colley, Andrew Dodds and InterStruct Collective from Porto, Portugal, who have each undertaken their own distinct speculative and creative enquiries into the collection.
Artist-photographer Dr Errol Francis, director of independent arts and education charity Culture&, has written an essay to accompany the exhibition and produced a photographic work.
Curator Dorcas Taylor said: “This exhibition does not follow the conventions of a traditional museum display to tell the ‘story’ of Harrison or explore the collection thematically. Instead, it recognises that this archive is an unfinished project, adding Congolese and African voices that have been missing from the collection until now. Our research has led to more questions than answers, so we are sharing our learning, recognising our mistakes and offering up questions for more debate.”
Citizen researchers from Scarborough and beyond, members of the Congolese diaspora in the UK, Bambuti people from the Ituri Forest, academics, students, artists and activists have been introduced to the collection and made contributions to demonstrate how a collection like this can act as a springboard to explore multiple perspectives.
The exhibition is on now and runs until Sunday February 19. Scarborough Art Gallery is open from 10am to 5pm every day except Monday (plus bank holidays).
Entrance is free with a £3 annual pass.