New exhibit paints death then,now

The Burke Museum's new exhibit space was still filled with ladders, paint brushes and workers yesterday as museum staff put finishing touches on the museum's newest exhibit, "Reverent Remembrance: Honoring the Dead," which will open tomorrow.

On the surface, the exhibit is made up of four parts detailing how Mexican, ancient-Egyptian and Indonesian cultures relate to death as well as a historical look at the American Halloween culture -- but to museum curators and MaryAnn Barron, Burke Museum director of external communications, the exhibit offers interpretations of death.

The museum exhibit "helps interpret what is happening in our world today," said Barron. She's careful not to lean back against a wall of wet paint where various newspaper articles appearing on Sept. 12, 2001 -- following the events of Sept. 11 -- will appear. The exhibit aims to draw a connection between the burial and death rituals of several cultures and how Americans dealt with tragedy and death on Sept. 11.

As Barron walks through the exhibit she points out distinct differences in how cultures deal with the loss of life. A distinction that interests her is how the death rituals of the Torajan people and the Sumbanese people differ, even in the relatively small geographic area of Indonesia.

The Torajan, she said, lay the dead to rest with ceremonies that last days, or even weeks, while the Sumbanese have an annual ceremony to remember the dead, called the pasola festival.

Also making an appearance in the exhibit is the Burke's resident Egyptian mummy, Nellie, which has just emerged from extensive conservation and stabilization. The mummy has been displayed at other exhibits at the Burke since she was donated in 1902, but now resides most comfortably in a $20,000 climate-controlled display case.

The Mexican portion of the exhibit consists of two Mexican altars, typically constructed during Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. One of the altars was partially constructed by Seattle Latino-American representatives, while one was constructed by curators in the style of a traditional Mexican altar.

The altars were "based on actual visits and actually working with the Latino community," said Barron. Curators took a trip south about a year ago to experience Day of the Dead.

Sound and projected presentations in the exhibit keep the information lively, and with good reason, as Barron said -- students from kindergarten through the 12th grade will start to visit the museum soon. The Burke has more than 100,000 visitors annually, she said.

The staff at the Burke hopes that by understanding how other cultures deal with death, Americans can better understand their own practices. Burke curators want to show how the dead are always welcomed, even if death is not.