Over the past two weeks, my peers and I visited the Museum of Anthropology specifically for the “Amazonia” exhibition. The exhibit was small and compact, filled with information regarding the indigenous societies of the Amazon rainforest, contrasted with information about the Amazon forest now.
To begin with, many of my peers started on a visual level, describing the most interesting things in the exhibit. Edward, Lukas and Daanish made comments about the fascinating historical artefacts and hand crafts displayed. In particular, the feathers drew the attention of Lukas, for their uses in traditional ceremonies. The artifacts and lifestyle of the Amazonian heavily differs from the “modern”, Alexa compares the meticulous artifacts with our “tall buildings and 20 minute traffic”, as well as pointing out a significant distinction, where our society now are growing further and further away from nature.
A more melancholic reflection is shown when my peers reach the section of the exhibit, showing the statistics of deforestation and coal mining in the Amazon rainforest. As stated by Lukas, how shocked he was seeing the amount of deforestation for cattle farming. Daanish raises the question about “our devaluation of the narratives and systems” in regards to the indigenous societies. Evidently, my peers were deeply moved by the eye opening experience in the Amazonia exhibit, that what once was a society is now torn apart gives us an opportunity to reflect on our lifestyles now, and how it affects others and their history.
From the conversation between my peers, a question came to my mind after reading Alexa’s input. Is our society “better” than before. An intuitive response would be yes, as the connection, globalization, most importantly convenience and comfort brought by the advancement of technologies, yet it tramples other societies, as shown in this Amazonian exhibition. Years of cultivation, history, unique artefacts and knowledge only merely preserved but not celebrated, we went from chasing our pray till exhaustion to working eight hours a day sitting in a chair. Our lives have drastically changed and we are moving further away from nature, but is it for the better?
Alexa – https://blogs.ubc.ca/alexafordyblog/
Daanish – https://blogs.ubc.ca/daanishsayani/
Edward – https://blogs.ubc.ca/edwardyinblog/
Lukas – https://blogs.ubc.ca/lukasblog/