At the entrance to “Objects of Addiction” , a new exhibit at the Harvard Art Museums, is displayed, front and center, a very large opium smoking pipe. Its size and elaborate design indicate that it was not a commoner’s opium pipe. This piece, being chosen as the front facing display of the exhibition, speaks to the widespread use of opium in China during the Opium War period and the powerfully consuming and destructive nature of this addiction.
The Opium Wars occurred between 1839 and 1860 and left behind devastating social, economic and psychological damage on China and its people. These wars saw China cede territory to foreign states and were a major contributing factor to the instability which led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty which subsequently brought about the Chinese Civil War. The consequences of the wars however were not limited to within China’s borders; the wars continued to influence China’s diplomacy, led to vicious immigration laws that targeted the Chinese American community, and fanned the flames of anti-Chinese racism already present in American society at that time.
The Harvard Art Museums’ exhibition “Objects of Addiction” examines the intertwined histories of the origins and impacts of opium in China during the 19th and 20th centuries and the opium trade’s intersection with the histories of Harvard, the Chinese art trade and the role of Massachusetts merchants in the trade, and China’s relations with the West in a fight against imperialism. The exhibition also examines the individual and social impacts of addiction — both past and present — and allows visitors to draw comparisons between the Opium Wars era and modern America’s opioid crisis…and share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences about these two opioid crises .
In a visit with Curator Sarah Laursen, she shared with Sampan her extensive knowledge about the many pieces that were carefully chosen for this show. The artifacts offer a unique glimpse into the past and present of addiction, colonialism, and racism. The stigma around opium initially resulted in the Qing government imposing harsh punishments for people experiencing addiction, rather than offering the empathy, treatment, and resources that people needed. “Today”, she said, “the overdose death rate in Massachusetts is topping 2,300 individuals per year ; we can learn from the past and choose to adopt harm reduction measures that will save lives.”
Setting the story straight about China’s Opium Wars is important. now than ever before because the economic and political tensions between China and the U.S. are at an all time high. This was especially true during the pandemic when Trump accused China of starting COVID 19. Laursen has been pleased to hear from many Chinese visitors and from Chinese social media posts that the show makes them feel seen and heard in new ways. Harvard did not sensationalize or politicize the history and tried to introduce as many nuances as possible. “We did our best to provide an accurate picture of who was involved in the opium trade and in early Chinese art collecting, even when the facts were unflattering to Harvard and the U.S.. I hope that this transparency will lead to an opening of communication and new collaborations with colleagues in China.”
Laursen walked us through the “Opioids Then and Now” section of the exhibit where addiction was not presented as a moral failing or a conscious choice. “ It can happen to anyone, and the purveyors of these drugs often sell them to people with full knowledge of their addictiveness and potentially fatal effects.” The exhibit leads the visitor to consider a person experiencing substance use disorders with respect and empathy, understand the challenges they face in recovery, and support them by promoting life-saving measures like Overdose Prevention Centers and distribution of Narcan.
Explaining the formal process for art and historical repatriation of some of the pieces displayed in the exhibit, Lauren described that international laws tended to change often during this time period and usually without much formal record keeping. “How did it come to Harvard?? In many cases, we do not know their precise sources nor the circumstances of their removal because in the past there was no demand for documentation. For most U.S. collections of Asian art it is rarely possible to reconstruct the complete chain of ownership. But there are some questions we can start to answer: How can we work with source countries to better document, care for, and understand these objects? How can we curtail the black market? What could ethical collecting or sharing of cultural property look like in the future?”
Laursen hopes that the exhibition and its insight into the art trade during the 20th century can help to make the practice of collecting Chinese art more ethical. “By reexamining the formation of early 20th-century museum collections—as well as the underrecognized consequences of these initial acquisitions—we become better equipped to shape our policies for ethical collecting in the future.”
The exhibit in the first room helps to illustrate the devastating impact of opium on Chinese society and the bubbling racism in Western societies. There are various images of people using opium, an image showing the dreadfully painful life of an addict that can be construed as a warning from Chinese officials to the public about opium. There are depictions of the Chinese from the West which utilized racist and unsympathetic stereotypes about Chinese people at that time. The second room takes a closer look at the history of opioids and how they continue to kill people in the present. There was an educational video from a Harvard edX course showing how opioids impact the body. There was a wall where people could write about their thoughts about the show and share their personal experiences. There was also a drop box where people could submit their writings to be preserved in the Harvard Art Museums Archives should they not want to display them publicly.
Laursen admits that, in Boston itself, Americans profited from opium which they trafficked and traded in and out of China. US museums built their collections in part through the chaos that followed the Opium Wars. “Just because that history has been invisible to many of us until now, it does not mean that we have not directly or indirectly benefited from this dark stain in US history.
The exhibition will be open to the public until this Sunday, January 14th. Visitors to the exhibition can pick up a 24-page booklet which ties together the themes of the exhibition with three essays and are welcome to explore additional programming online.
For more information:
https://harvardartmuseums.org/exhibitions/6265/objects-of-addiction-opium-empire-and-the-chinese-art-trade
