Burrell Collection 'transes' Buddhist figure

[DomesticatedZombie]

The utter fannies.

'Two porcelain figures of the Buddhist goddess of mercy which are at least 300 years old have been put on display at the revamped museum described as “Guanyin: A Transgender Icon”. '

www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20072923.burrell-collection-accused-politicising-exhibits-transgender-row/

www.pressreader.com/uk/the-herald-1130/20220416/281848647145894

I was going to go there next week.

Well, take care. You may have an unwanted and completely spurious identity thrust upon you.

I’m not going to go now. When I go to a museum or exhibit/similar, I trust that the people who have organised it/work there have done their best to give me accurate facts about the things I’m looking at. I like to see new things and learn about them. I can’t trust that anything there is accurate and I’ll be annoyed seeing things I know are wrong so we will look for something else to do while we’re there instead.

Whether they are factually correct or not I find the tone of the information cards to be unpleasantly hectoring and verging on compelled speech or action.
"Be more Guanyin" indeed. Is that an order?

I don’t want to go to exhibitions that distort history rather than enlighten the past. No thank you.

Quite, Siobhan. The history and cultural context of Guanyin etc could have been interestingly discussed; yes even a comparison to transgenderism could have been done in a sensitive way. Instead, we're patronised and huffed at by (apparently) a blundering teenager who's been given access to a printer.

Contents: I'm sorry Glasgow Museums has been overrun with nincompoops. Kelvingrove is fantastic, if you're looking for things to do in Glasgow. Also Sharmanka in town in is great, and Tramway may be worth a look at (if you swerve the 'gender neutral' toilets).

According to Wikipedia, Guanyin can manifest in multiple forms.
"one of the most popular sacred texts in the Buddhist canon, describes thirty-three specific manifestations that Guanyin can assume to assist other beings seeking salvation. These forms encompass a Buddha, a pratyekabuddha, an arhat, King Brahma, Sakra (Indra), Isvara, Mahesvara (Shiva), a great heavenly general, Vaiśravaṇa, a Cakravartin, a minor king, an elder, a householder, a chief minister, a Brahmin, a bhikkhu, a bhikkhunī, a Upāsaka, a Upāsikā, a wife, a young boy, a young girl, a deva, a nāga, a yaksha, a gandharva, an asura, a garuḍa, a kinnara, a Mahoraga, a human, a non-human and Vajrapani."

So very like numerous other gods, goddesses and legendary/folkloric figures all over the world then.

By this reckoning, Zeus is a furry.

And using it to promote GI and "trans rights" (which already exist just like everyone else's) and preaching at you to be more Guanyin, is way overstepping what a public exhibit should do. Guanyin has nothing to do with today's transgenderism, but they think she does, so they are telling people to be trans.

Also, I've just noticed they describe Avalokiteshvara as a 'god boddhisattva'. This is clumsy and - I would say - inaccurate. It seems the Burrell are wading into a discussion without much of a grasp of the issues involved.

tricycle.org/beginners/buddhism/what-is-a-bodhisattva/

FFS the first time a saw the photos on Twitter I though someone had left them on the exhibit (bit like I leave the sole sisters cards everywhere...) but they're bloody official 🤦🏻‍♀️

I have noticed the Burrell Collection are suddenly advertising all over so maybe this is a pathetic attempt at free advertising. Who cares about historical accuracy when there's a chance to preach the new faith

[Kelvingrove is definitely the best Glasgow Museum]

By this reckoning, Zeus is a furry.

God, don't encourage them!

But yes - Guan Yin is a personification/depiction of a figure from Buddhist mythology that came from an earlier tradition. In Sanskrit Avalokiteshvara is male; in Chinese Mahayana Buddhist stories she is a female figure.

It's absurd to describe her as transgender.

I thought that with all the handwringing about the way a lot of the exhibits were originally obtained, they'd be a bit more sensitive to imposing their beliefs on another religion / culture.

But it’s a figure who is/has been represented as both a female and a male…so it’s a perfectly adequate description.

Absolutely, ItsAll. I have had a little look - Burrell bought antigues through dealers so it may be hard to ascertain where they originally came from or how they were acquired. But it's just ... so staggeringly insensitive to do this to artefacts from another culture!

@SweetPetrichor

But it’s a figure who is/has been represented as both a female and a male…so it’s a perfectly adequate description.

It's more than one figure who has been represented in different names/bodies over hundreds of years. So it's nonsensical and absurd.

Separately to this (but sort of related), there was a Twitter thread the other day about the infantile captions generally on the exhibits. No actual facts, more waffly bollocks: twitter.com/daisylafarge/status/1514589709003104261?s=21&t=ZGQWNZjQoS6cyC7beFGYvg

[quote Zeugma]Separately to this (but sort of related), there was a Twitter thread the other day about the infantile captions generally on the exhibits. No actual facts, more waffly bollocks: twitter.com/daisylafarge/status/1514589709003104261?s=21&t=ZGQWNZjQoS6cyC7beFGYvg[/quote]
Jeez Louise.

Maybe they have decided to save money by hiring teenagers in all their positions.

I wonder whether some Bhuddists would find this offensive. However, the museum hasn't thought to check that, because no doubt religion isn't approved of. Ironic, given the preachy message.

So western cultural imperialism is progressive now?

[quote DomesticatedZombie]Also, I've just noticed they describe Avalokiteshvara as a 'god boddhisattva'. This is clumsy and - I would say - inaccurate. It seems the Burrell are wading into a discussion without much of a grasp of the issues involved.

tricycle.org/beginners/buddhism/what-is-a-bodhisattva/[/quote]
A 'god boddissattva' is a wildly inaccurate term! Boddissatvas are not gods!
But to understand that, would mean proper learning with y'know, books and stuff.

@SweetPetrichor

But it’s a figure who is/has been represented as both a female and a male…so it’s a perfectly adequate description.

Tell me, if you encountered a Buddhist from a different country, who was visibly of a different ethnicity to yourself, would you look them in the eyes and insist that this description, rooted in the cultural and legal furore of 21st century America and Europe, was a 'perfectly adequate description' of their traditions around Guan Yin?

On this train of thought, are there religions which you aren't willing to bowdlerise to their adherents?

@PurgatoryOfPotholes

On this train of thought, are there religions which you aren't willing to bowdlerise to their adherents?

Good point. I don't think that they care about religions as such and that unbiased research and facts don't belong in a museum.

What would Neil McGregor say?

[quote Zeugma]Separately to this (but sort of related), there was a Twitter thread the other day about the infantile captions generally on the exhibits. No actual facts, more waffly bollocks: twitter.com/daisylafarge/status/1514589709003104261?s=21&t=ZGQWNZjQoS6cyC7beFGYvg[/quote]
My word. The banality of waffle.

I'll add this to my list of Times That Trans Activists on MN Justified Racism/ Cultural Insensitivity To Score Points Off Feminists.