From: Joel Sax <jsax@igc.org>
Newsgroups: alt.discrimination
Date: 12 Apr 92 11:08 PDT
Subject: SPAIN: CONTROVERSY OVER MUSEUM EXHI
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1522100004:000:6374
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!jsax    Apr 12 11:08:00 1992


From: Joel Sax <jsax>
Subject: SPAIN: CONTROVERSY OVER MUSEUM EXHI

/* Written 12:48 pm  Mar 13, 1992 by pnmideast in cdp:gen.racism */
/* ---------- "SPAIN: CONTROVERSY OVER MUSEUM EXHI" ---------- */
From: <pnmideast>
Subject: SPAIN: CONTROVERSY OVER MUSEUM EXHI

/* Written  6:15 am  Mar 13, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "SPAIN: CONTROVERSY OVER MUSEUM EXHI" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Europe, eastern
Reference: Population
Title: SPAIN: CONTROVERSY OVER MUSEUM EXHIBIT OF BLACK CHIEF'S CORPSE


an inter press service feature

by pablo azocar

madrid, mar 10 (ips) -- the dissected corpse of an african tribal
chief now on display at a museum exhibiting african artefacts, is
said to be an affront to the black race, and a call has been made
to have it removed.

the black tribal chieftain's dissected corpse was brought to
the museum in the little catalonian town of banolas back in 1916.
it is now placed in the midst of the darder municipal museum's
exhibition of african drums, spears, stones and other exotic
artefacts.

but alfonso arcelin, a spanish doctor of haitian origin,
considers the exhibit ''an offence to the black race and the human
species in general'', and has launched his own personal crusade to
have the dissected cadaver withdrawn from the museum.

arcelin has sent dozens of letters to the spanish authorities
and to other countries over the past two months in an effort to
pressure the museum authorities to have the corpse removed, but to
no avail.

however, recent reports state that the botswana government will
soon lay claim to the exhibit, which was reportedly stolen from
its grave site in botswana by a french explorer.

in a telephone conversation from gerona, also in catalonia,
arcelin revealed that he had also sent a letter to the mayor's
office in banolas asking for official intervention to see that the
dissected corpse be immediately taken off display in the museum
because ''as a black i feel personally humiliated''.

but a spokesperson for the mayor's office in banolas, a small
town of some 15,000 people, including 500 africans, said that the
town council had unanimously voted last january that it was
''essential'' to keep the dissected cadaver in the museum, because
it was part of the town's heritage.

cares abella, a town councillor and the official responsible
for the museum, told ips that the body is being kept on display to
maintain the ''unity'' of the museum's african exhibit.

''the black's dissected cadaver in the darder museum forms part
of the popular culture of the town, absorbed by children in
school,'' argued abella.

he admitted that the exhibition was in a sense ''racial'', but
not in a derogatory sense. it is simply presenting the diversity
of race to visitors, again from a scientific interest proper to
any museum, he argued. (more/ips

spain: controversy over museum exhibit of black chief's corpse(2)

controversy (2)

he noted as well that ''racism...may be a personal attitude
visitors bring with them to the exhibition, but this is in no way
encourre we are at the end of the 20th century, yet someone would
still dare to exhibit the dissected cadaver of a human being in a
display case as though it were some kind of exotic animal,'' he
said.

the spanish doctor added: ''this is the only place in the world
where such a thing could happen.''

failing all else, arcelin is now threatening to ask black
athletes to boycott the olympic games in barcelona this summer.
the town of banolas figures prominently in advertising for the
games, since the international sculling championships will be held
there.

''if the cadaver is not withdrawn forthwith, i am prepared to
ask all black athletes not to take part in the competitions in a
place where such a racist attack is being perpetrated,'' arcelin
said.

what made the situation even worse, he said, was that the body
had been ''stolen'' from its tomb in africa by grave robbers.

reference of this robbery is made in a brochure distributed by
the darder museum itself. the brochure, printed long before the
controversy, reveals that the individual on display was a chief of
a bechuana tribe in bechuanaland, now called botswana.

the information in this brochure is based on an explanation
given by the barcelona naturalist after whom the museum is named.
francisco darder said in 1988 that the museum had only been able
to secure the corpse because of ''the audacity of the french
explorer frances verraux, who at some undetermined time stole the
body of the tribal chieftain after he was buried''.

''in one of his many trips in search of notable examples and
artefacts of african culture and civilisation, verraux and his
brother robbed the grave at midnight, after the chief's family and
others present at the burial ceremony had left the burial
ground,'' says the brochure.

arcelin has received support for his campaign to have the
cadaver withdrawn from the museum, from the inter-african centre
of cultural initiatives (ciic) in barcelona, which in january
awarded the haitian doctor its martin luther king prize.

ciic officials also made an appeal to the botswana government to
intervene, and according to the african organisation, the botswana
foreign ministry had since promised to officially ask for the
return of the corpse.(more/ips)

spain: controversy over museum exhibit of black chief's corpse(3-e)

spain: controversy (3)

but according to abella, neither the mayor's office nor the
museum have so far received any official request of this nature
from the botswana authorities, much less from the spanish foreign
ministry.

the paradox of the situation is that since the issue was raised
in the columns of some catalonian newspapers, tourism in banolas
has skyrocketed, arcelin says, estimating a 500 per cent increase.
town officials have neither confirmed nor denied his claim.

''in effect, the town council has now turned to producing
postcards, tourist mementos, match boxes and lamps with shades
decorated with a picture of the chieftain's dissected cadaver. in
fact, the corpse has now been transformed overnight into ''a
symbol the town of banolas and its number one tourist
attraction'', complained arcelin. (end/ips/ce/pa/ego/cpg/92)


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