“Museums serve an essential role as open places of inquiry, dialogue, and education. It is therefore all the more important for institutions to think critically about their collecting processes, institutional biases, and traditional narratives. This important collaboration between Maine Maritime Museum and Bowdoin College helps complicate Maine’s role as a ‘free state’, by pointing to its involvement in the shipping of cotton and enslaved peoples. In the past, this was sanitized through a focus on global trade or naval architecture—this exhibit instead emphasizes the direct human and cultural cost, which continues to this day,” said Christopher Timm, interim executive director of Maine Maritime Museum. “We are so appreciative of the opportunity to work with Tess Chakkalakal and her students to give new generations authorship and voice in the way our collective history is presented.”
Founded in 1962, the Maine Maritime Museum sits on a beautiful 20-acre campus on the banks of the Kennebec River and is dedicated to promoting an understanding and appreciation of Maine’s maritime heritage and culture. The museum recently eliminated admission fees for visitors under 18 and joined the “Museums for All” initiative to provide free admission to visitors with electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.
To schedule an interview, please contact Emma Dimock at edimock@marshallpr.com. For more information, please visit MaineMaritimeMuseum.org.