What Should The Carnegie Do With Human Remains?
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History has a lot of weird wonders in its collection, but few have plagued management quite like the diorama “Lion Attacking a Dromedary.” It’s got a lot of inaccuracies, from the meshing of several Middle Eastern and North African cultures, to placements that reinforce violence, colonialism and misogyny. Modern curators struggle to even call it art — which was also the consensus in 1899 when industrialist Andrew Carnegie first acquired it for his new museum in Pittsburgh from a private collection being sold off in France. But more recently, scientists also discovered it contains human remains, likely acquired from the original taxidermists, who were well-known grave robbers.
Museum director Gretchen Baker joins City Cast’s Megan Harris to talk about what comes next and what local patrons have had to say about it.
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