The Inherent Quality of the Object

Susan Jahoda and Nathan Ford, The Inherent Quality of the Object, video installation/mixed media, 2004

When invited to participate in the exhibition “Picturing Northampton” at the Smith College Museum of Art, we thought it worthwhile to think about how the museum itself functions as a “picturing” device for the communities of Northampton.

The Inherent Quality of the Object began when we discovered eighty two items from colonial New Guinea in the museum’s collection, donated by Smith alumna Frances Perry Palmer.  Ms. Palmer traveled to New Guinea shortly after graduating in 1966 and gave her collection to the museum twenty years later. Curious about the histories of these objects, we invited her to be interviewed, and then began an on-going exploration and selective documentation of the gift within its institutional framework.  We also conducted an interview with Suzannah J. Fabing, current director and chief curator of the museum since 1992. 

Central to the project are questions regarding how institutions define cultural “importance” through either explicit or implicit value systems. Does what a museum collects, categorizes, archives and displays reveal intentional and unintentional myth-making processes?  And if so, what roles do these processes play in shaping audiences?

Link to Questions for Museum Director Suzanne Fabing, PDF

Link to the full digital catalog of objects donated by Frances Peregrine Palmer.