The Gallery Enhancements Project at the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago: Everything Old Is New Again

Abstract

What began as a plan to replace the original 1931 walnut display cases quickly morphed into a five-year Gallery Enhancements Project at the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago (OIM). Timed to coincide with the centennial celebration in the fall of 2019, the museum redesign includes greater label transparency, a standardized set of gallery materials, and some stunning sightlines, color schemes, interpretations, and object placements. While a product of its time, the Oriental Institute is not frozen in time, and the project is a testament to OIM commitment to visitor and scholarly engagement. In this moment of museum self-reflection, reckoning, and public scrutiny it has become difficult to have the name Oriental Institute, so in addition to the bricks and mortar restructure, the institute is also changing their name to mitigate the persistent harm perpetrated by use of that expression. We cannot change the colonial origins of archaeological practice, partage, and museum display, but we can challenge, contemplate, and question the collection, its ancient and modern histories, and orientalist legacies on display. The new and improved OIM offers us the unique opportunity to experience an ancient collection, acquired in a colonial moment, through a contemporary lens, which could make all the difference in our understanding of the past and the present.