The Wider World & Scrimshaw exhibit takes the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s scrimshaw collection (objects carved by whalers on the byproducts of marine mammals) and places it in conversation with carved decorative arts and material culture made by Indigenous community members from across the Pacific world and Arctic. Native communities across Oceania, the Pacific, and Arctic have cosmologies related to whales, distinctive maritime traditions involving marine mammals, and vibrant carving styles. They were also impacted by commercial whaling ventures, and the external pressures from colonialism and Western exploration.
This interdisciplinary, community-driven, and collections-focused project engages questions about identity, place, and material, and considers how exploration and whaling impacted the production of material culture in this diverse region between 1700 and today. The exhibition showcases over 300 objects, paying particular attention to ones that indicate cultural and material exchanges. How did Pacific world communities encounter whalers and influence items produced, and how did whaling (internal and external) impact these communities and their unique art forms?
Flip through the slideshow below to look closely at the images included in the activities. (Right click on the images to download.)
