3. For examples of such technologies is use see: www.virginia.edu/artmuseum/VirtualExhibitions/virtual.htmlor www. bsa.gla.ac.uk/knosos/index.htm, each of whichwas accessible as of January 2006.

An Assistant Professor of Classical Art and Archaeologyat the University of Virginia, Tyler Jo Smith specializesin the study of ancient Greek vase painting and of theiconography and culture of the Mediterranean worldmore broadly. Her research has been published widely,appearing a range of edited collections and in journalssuch as Art Documentation and The Annual of theBritish School at Athens.

Bodies of Cultures: A World Tour of BodyModification. An online exhibition of the Universityof Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology andAnthropology.

CARRIE HERTZ

Even before Captain Cook returned from hisfamous Pacific expeditions bearing engravings,sketches, and a tattooed Tahitian native namedOmai, the West has been fascinated with exoticbodies. Anthropology, from its infancy, has docu-mented and interpreted the body adornment prac-tices of non-western peoples and today many of thevestiges of those documentary practices reside inmuseums. These images and artifacts reveal a his-tory of colonial gaze, exploitation, and prohibition asbody adornment practices were simultaneouslysought for study and display and discouraged or out-lawed. In a post-colonial era, these artifacts are atonce a rich historical record and also a connectionto a troubling colonial past. Regardless, we continueto be curious about the body art of not only exoticpeople far away, but also the exotic within our owncultures. A case in point is the online exhibit Bodiesof Cultures: A World Tour of Body Modification. Theexhibit is part of the World Cultures: Ancient andModern series of virtual exhibitions produced by theUniversity of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeologyand Anthropology (UPM).1

Bodies of Cultures is divided into three majorsections concentrating on the body modificationforms of piercing, tattooing, and body painting.

From the main page of the exhibit, hyperlinks tothese and other areas of the site appear as imagesand highlighted words. Every page is connectedthrough hyperlinks and can be reached without thenecessity of backtracking. Although Bodies of Cul-tures does not offer anything that could be consid-ered a summarizing main label, according to themain page, the source material for the exhibit islimited to artifacts currently on display in the UPMgalleries. Therefore, this exhibit should be consid-ered a narrow survey of a few types of body modi-fication presented for a generalized and uninformedaudience. However, it is also an excellent exampleof how virtual exhibits can enrich currently dis-played collections.

The piercing, tattooing, and body painting pagesare arranged with one running text that is punctu-ated with illustrative images or quotes along eithermargin. Most of the images come directly from theUPM collection and vary greatly between geo-graphical location, cultural group, and historicalperiod. Therefore you see images of ancient statu-ary juxtaposed with photographs of contemporaryAmerican teenagers on the streets of Philadelphia.The text of each section, too, jumps back and forthbetween peoples, places, and times by focusing onoutward forms. While this tactic suggests a richrecord of timeless, global participation in the humanphenomenon of body modification, it also createssome strange juxtapositions. Thus, unequal com-parisons are made between practices that primarilyserve cultural notions of beauty and those that aresocial necessities.

Furthermore, little time is spent on setting uplarger concepts of body modification or exploring thecomplicated social contexts within which body artpractices take meaning. For example, this emphasison visual form and the lack of explanation of socio-cultural functions confusingly pairs a statue labeled“Buddha with dot on forehead,China,A.D.1279–1368”next to this caption: “For centuries, people all overthe world have used makeup to enhance their nat-ural features. In India, in addition to makeup for theeyes and lips, a dot on the forehead of women isincluded in the daily beauty routine.” The dot of theBuddha and that of a contemporary Hindu Indianwoman may have a common religious origin as sug-gested by their placement on the body. However,the urna (mark on the Buddha’s forehead) is not

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necessarily an adornment at all but is often inter-preted as a mole or a stylized representation of thespiritual third eye.

An additional link, accessible on the main page,connects you with a partial inventory of the virtualexhibit’s artifacts that are also displayed in theUPM galleries. Underneath each image is an addi-tional link that transports you to the UPM’s gallerydescription pages. These pages provide furtherinformation on the geographical and cultural focusby which the objects are contextualized within theirphysical exhibits.This is a wonderful way to connectthe physical and virtual spheres and allow visitorsto explore the physical gallery spaces in ways per-haps not suggested by the signage currently on dis-play. In other words, the physical gallery, withoutchanging, can be recontextualized.

The examples of items listed as on displaywithin the museum include painting, sculpture, anda 19th century expedition sketch that depict thehuman body. There are also images of body orna-ments or tools such as a Canaanite cosmetic spoondated 701-586 B.C.E. Some of the artifacts, however,lack contextualization that would enrich theviewer’s understanding of its use or why it wasincluded in this list that features items that do notappear within the three sections of the main exhibit.For example, how does a statue of Buddha reflectthe actual practice of body art in China? Instead ofguiding the viewer, the list shows only a picture ofthe statue with an identifying caption.

As mentioned above, the electronic nature of theexhibit allows particular artifacts to receive multi-ple interpretations since they can appear simulta-neously on physical display and within this virtualexhibit. However, looking at images of artifacts isnever as thrilling or revealing as being in their pres-ence. Unfortunately, this exhibit does not compen-sate with multimedia presentations that are ofteneasier to offer in cyberspace than in traditionalmuseum settings. Most disappointing is that manyof the images are very small and therefore lack cleardefinition. For example, a wooden carving from Zaireis noted for its wonderful illustration of female scar-ification patterns. However, the image as presentedonline is less than two inches high rendering thedetail of the scarification invisible to the viewer.Perhaps an option to click on the image and seelarger, multiple angle views of the object wouldlessen the frustration for the viewer.

To its credit, the exhibit is very conscious of thevalue of presenting contemporary Americans as par-ticipants in the cross-cultural phenomena of bodymodification.The section on body painting especiallyoffers the important example of women’s cosmetics.Otherwise, many of the examples in the sectionstend toward the extremes of body adornment.Another, commendable aspect of Bodies of Culturesis its revelation that individuals are able to differ-entiate themselves within society through culturalpractices. From the first page, the exhibit proclaims“body modification and what it means is both per-sonal and cultural.” The most exciting aspect of theexhibit in fact makes this point very clear by allow-ing the public to post their thoughts about their owntattoos and piercings. Reached through a link fromthe main page, you are presented with the opportu-nity to post or to read the previous posts of otherpeople.These entries include photographs, personalnarratives, and opinions. What emerges is some-thing that was not achieved through the surveyexamples of the main exhibit: the display of personal(rather than the more general cultural) reasons whyindividuals modify their bodies. One wonderfulexample is a post by Maya from New Zealand whoreveals that her nipple piercing is a secret protestto those who have labeled her “a prude.” In otherwords, body modification is not only designed for thesocial gaze of others, but can serve very private func-tions of self-identification.

The exhibit most certainly would have benefitedfrom a definition of body modification.Although oneis not provided, the viewer can extrapolate a work-ing understanding through the various examples.However, that deduction is a very partial represen-tation of human body art. For example, the exhibitclaims tattooing as the “most popular form of bodyadornment in America today.” This ignores the factthat every American wakes up and gets dressed inthe morning, adorning their bodies in culturallydetermined and evocative textiles. However, thereis a long history within the study of body art to priv-ilege the more “exotic” and to highlight the aberrant.Bodies of Cultures is no exception.

Although this online exhibit effort (led by anundergraduate student intern) is commendable, theserious study of body adornment would benefit fromclearer and more consistent definitions as well asinterdisciplinary approaches. To reach a more com-plete understanding of the role of body adornment

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within society, we must not divorce it from its socio-cultural contexts nor from the everyday realities bywhich individuals create personal meaning throughcultural practice. Therefore, future examinationsshould consider the entire system of body adorn-ment (production, distribution, consumption) and awider range of forms and participants (from averageto extreme).

Notes

1. At the time my review was authored (January 2006), theexhibition could be accessed online at: www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/online_exhibits/body_modifica-tion/bodmodintro.shtml.

Carrie Hertz is a doctoral student in the Departmentof Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University.Her work focuses on museum and material culturestudies, with a special emphasis on the study of cloth-ing and self adornment. A former Collections Assistantat the Monroe County History Center, her most recentexhibition is Facing the Inevitable: The Mourning andMortuary Practices of Monroe County.

Drawing on Identity: Inkameep Day School andArt Collection. An online exhibition of the OsoyoosMuseum and the Virtual Museum of Canada.

AMBER RIDINGTON

As a relatively new display medium, onlineexhibitions are providing small and out of the waycommunities with new opportunities, previouslyavailable only to larger centers, to display their cul-tural history and present themselves to a world-wide audience. Drawing on Identity: Inkameep DaySchool and Art Collection is an example of a col-laborative project between a First Nations com-munity, an anthropologist, a local museum, and aweb design team. These respective parties (TheOsoyoos Indian Band in British Columbia, Canada,Dr. Andrea Walsh of the University of Victoria, theOsoyoos Museum Society and Unlimited DigitalCommunications) worked together to collect, docu-ment and present a piece of significant cultural,political, educational and artistic history to thepublic. The process of collecting their history and

interpreting it for the exhibit is also helping to revi-talize the cultural pride of the Inkameep people ofthe Osoyoos Indian Band and is spurring on theirefforts to provide culturally relevant educationalcurriculum for their community.1

Using a multimedia format, the exhibit tells thestory of a maverick educator, Anthony Walsh, whotaught at the Inkameep Day School for OkanaganIndian children from 1932 to 1942 and the artworkproduced there during Walsh’s tenure. The storydetails how Walsh’s progressive education tech-niques honored traditional Okanagan language andculture and encouraged the students to depict theireveryday realities,which were a mixture of Okanagantraditions and stories, old and new ways of life, anevolving agricultural economy, and North Americanpopular culture in art and plays.2 This story of ateacher celebrating and encouraging a First Nation’sculture is in stark contrast to the more prevalentFirst Nations’ educational experience in Canada atthat time, when many Native people were beingstripped of their cultures at residential schools andpunished for speaking their Native languages andpracticing traditional customs. I found it inspiringand hopeful to learn about this exception to a darkpart of Canada’s colonial history.

With the content divided into eight main sections(The Story, The Teacher, The Artists, Galleries,Historical Timeline, Media Catalogue, ContemporaryResearch, Education), the exhibit mixes video clipsof interviews with Inkameep Day School studentsfrom Walsh’s teaching era, the current Chief of theOsoyoos Indian Band, and visual anthropologist Dr.Andrea Walsh with digital images of artwork pro-duced by the Inkameep Day School students, inter-pretive text, and a few rare archival recordings ofsong and theatre performances by the InkameepDay School students, as well as an interview withAnthony Walsh collected before his death in 1994.The “Galleries” section presents the artwork in thefollowing categories: Daily Life, Other Peoples,Traditions, Animals, Plays and Legends, FrancisBaptiste (a student who went on to get formal artschool training and achieved acclaim as an artist),and Thunderbird Park.

While the mediums are very different, an audi-ence’s visit to a virtual exhibit follows a similar pat-tern to that of a physical installation. Most usersread the headings, look at the pictures and thenmove on. The text in this exhibit is presented in an

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