Measuring Difference
Measuring Difference
Friedemann-Sánchez, Nancy.
Loba Garifuna.
2024, 80" x 40", Ink on Tyvek and found objects,
Courtesy of Instituto de Vision, New York/Bogotá
Photo credit: Larry Gawel
Today, measurement is everywhere. We understand everything around us in inches, degrees, gallons, decibels, and more. But measurements are human inventions. It is through measures that we learn to see difference, to compare the world.
In the Americas, colonial powers introduced new measurements to describe and exploit the “New World.” Existing ways of understanding and explaining the world and our relationship to others were displaced, cementing European measures as norms and tools of authority. Using examples from across the Americas, this bilingual (Spanish and English) exhibit illustrates what—and who—was measured, and how.
Measuring Difference Online Exhibition
Today, measurement is everywhere. We understand everything around us in inches, degrees, gallons, decibels, and more. Scientific instruments help us record precise measurements of what surrounds us. Yet measurements are human inventions. From the earliest societies to today, measures have helped to classify our surroundings. It is also through measures that we learn to compare the world, to see difference.
MEASURING DIFFERENCE in the Media
Harvard exhibit weighs in on history of colonial measurements,
The Washington Post, 10/20/2024
At Harvard, taking the measure of what happened when worlds collided,
The Boston Globe, 11/26/2024
Read the press release.