PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Today (Wednesday, November 2), at 3.00pm, Marischal Museum, Marischal College, Aberdeen
The role of drugs in people’s lives from ancient times to the present day is the focus of a new exhibition at Marischal Museum.
The exhibition, entitled Intoxication: a journey into drugs and culture, displays objects as diverse as a human lung with lung cancer, an opium smoker’s kit, an ether mask, cannabis leaves, hash pipes confiscated by police, and a Roman amphora, to help convey how drugs have played a crucial role in society for thousands of years.
The exhibition starts with an exploration of the ways in which the use of intoxicants can create a sense of community among users. Particularly striking is an ancient Greek cup, a skyphos, which shows a group of young men drinking together at a symposion.
This display of the pots used at such occasions to serve wine, the display of elaborate tobacco pipes and spatulae used when chewing betel nut, all emphasise the ways in which intoxicants have been used to include and exclude people, to mark rites of passage and to establish status.
The exhibition was curated by Darren Swanson, a 2005 graduate in anthropology of the University of Aberdeen. As part of a course on ‘Material Culture and Museums’ he submitted a project on this theme, which has now turned into reality.
Darren said: “People tend to think of drug abuse as a fairly recent phenomenon, however upon closer inspection of our recent history, it is easy to come across countless examples of how drugs have been behind literary movements, economic booms, coming of age rituals, social occasions.
“In fact it is difficult to find areas of social life not affected by drugs.”
Working with museum staff Darren drew together material from other collections in the university as well as from Aberdeen City Museums and Grampian Police.
Neil Curtis, Senior Curator in Marischal Museum, said: “This is an exciting exhibition that brings a fresh light on many objects in the collection and links academic teaching with the museum.
“I can’t think of any other exhibition which displays ancient Greek pottery next to cannabis leaves!”
The trafficking of drugs has lain behind the growth of empires, such as the control of the wine trade by the ancient Greeks and Romans and Britain’s role in smuggling opium to China. How many people know how the opium trade was supported by the nation’s thirst for tea? The objects on display show the complex ways in which the trade in intoxicating substances had far-reaching cultural effects throughout the world as they were assimilated into local habits rituals and technologies.
Drugs and transgression are synonymous in Western societies, intoxicants representing alienation, subversion, and rebellion – not to mention illicit escapism and pleasure – in equal measure.
The exhibition finishes by exploring the medial impact of some of these substances and the ways in which they have been controlled by society. It also shows that many transgressive drugs were once respectable substances actively prescribed as medical curatives – not least tobacco, gin, opium, and cocaine.
Entry to the exhibition, which runs until the end of the year, is free. Marischal Museum is open free Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 2-5pm.