The National Museum of Australia just closed its exhibition A history of the world in 100 objects with those 100 objects drawn from the very extensive collection of the British Museum. Objects ranged from stone tools to the prototype rig for Wi-Fi developed by the CSIRO (actually this was the 101^st object). Naturally there was quite a bit of interest in the exhibition over the months it was open. And naturally that interest demonstrated itself in the queues awaiting admission.

But what was it that attracted our attention, that was worth the long, boring wait, and the quite reasonable admission price? The objects themselves; the stone, pottery, fabric, metals? That the objects were from the British Museum and so only available after a long, but relatively cheap, international flight? That the collection told the history of mankind, its technological progress from cave to radio wave connected portable electronic devices? Or its social and cultural evolution from rock art to modern art, represented respectively as a bison scratched on a piece of rock and a sketch of two male lovers in bed? Ultimately I guess each visitor had their own reasons for attending, their own need to extract meaning from the objects and the exhibition per se. From what I observed such needs were indeed met.

Setting aside these personal explorations for meaning, there is the larger question of why the objects were collected in the first place. Certainly the objects had an innate beauty or demonstrated great craftsmanship or had a practical use. Many required close inspection to appreciate what they were and the effort involved in their production.

Detailed inspection was supplemented by detailed notes accompanying each object, satisfying the need to know what the object was and, to some extent, its historical context. From the notes and inspection one could begin to understand how each object gained its place in the collection and its role in the past.

What I found missing from the exhibition, however, was connection. Each object existed and was displayed in isolation from all others, connected only by way of their era-based arrangement. Yet no gestalt was provided to integrate the disparate objects, to make patterns, to form themes, to provide a framework for making historical sense and relating the past to the present and, indeed, to the future.

Hence, making sense of the collection as a collection—drawing links, comparing technologies and cultures, developing a deep understanding of the progress of humankind—was left to us as viewers.

Thus, delving into our own history our own experiences we made sense—more or less—of all that we saw. Did this then make us participants in the exhibition? Were we the ultimate subject of the display? Were we, the viewers, also the omnipresent creator of each object? If so, my participation was akin to a cameo role in a play or movie. So overwhelming was the scope of this sense making—so diffuse and different were the objects—that my attempts at sense making—and meaning making—proved inadequate.

This is not to say that the exhibition was without merit. Far from it. To see in the one room objects representing 20 000 years of human endeavour is to highlight the continuity, creativity and persistence of humanity. It is to understand that we—our technologies, our cultures, our societies, each of us as an individual—are but part of a continuing story, the evolution of humanity. It is also to highlight just how fleeting we are, as individuals as technologies, as cultures and as societies. Finally, it is to acknowledge that in all we do each day history, personal and human, stands behind us as a shadow, watching us yet enticing us towards a future that will be as transient as our past. We, in turn, are often unaware of that shadow or ignore it and its lessons.

Without our history we are without context. Without an appreciation of our past, our future is without a foundation. One hundred objects do not a history make, but they do stand in place of all those and all that which has preceded us and upon whose existence we have created our own rich present and set the scene for our unknown future.

Here’s to made objects and their shadows.