Heaven knows

The British Museum have started their next series of special exhibitions, this time on world religions. The first show ‘Treasures of Heaven’ focuses on Christianity, bringing together a host of glorious objects from around the world to consider how Medieval Europeans conceived of, decorated, collected and worshipped religious relics.

The show makes beautiful use of the round Reading Room (which will sadly be looking for a new purpose now that the Paul Hamlyn Library is set to close, and once the World Conservation and Exhibition Centre opens,). The soft lighting invests the space with some of the feeling of a church, enhanced by the soft medieval church music that plays from the centre and encourages you to look up into the golden ceiling. Each beautiful object is given a jewel-like quality by careful spotlighting. The sections and cases are well spaced to give some of the feel of an open church space, and leaving the visitor path enjoyably uncongested.

The display manages to invest these complex religious objects with a sense of reverence, while also maintaining a detached and informative attitude to Christianity as a religion. The principles and purpose of relics are explained simply and clearly through the objects, with the colourful stories of the various saints whose body parts are on display, carefully woven in. I found it odd, however, that so little attempt was made to address the fundamentally interesting question of the value of relics as objects. Given that their religious value stems from their authenticity as body parts of saints, where does their value lie when this authenticity is called into question? How does this relate to their obvious monetary value, lavishly decorated as so many of them are? What does it mean to display such human remains in this museum context? Given so many of the debates happening in museums currently, such questions could have linked these beautiful relics out into the wider museum collections and the other cultures and religions on display. 

For me, this would have let them shine all the more.