Exhibit on Addiction At Harvard’s Sackler Museum, Yes, Those Sacklers!

AUDIO – IRONIC AND IDIOTIC –

Jan. 17, 2024 – As we left the second floor gallery, I looked up at the entrance. Regal silver letters announced it was the Arthur M. Sackler Museum. My stomach churned as I realized the irony before me: An exhibit about the opium trade was located directly above a museum donated by Arthur M. Sackler. I am a drug addict, albeit a sober one for just over five years. Like many, my experience with addiction brought devastation, despair and destruction, culminating in the loss of my job, my home, my family and almost my life. But I did not want to die, so I clawed my way out of the early grave I’d dug for myself.

Sobriety is always in the back of my mind, so when I saw the word “Addiction” in bold black letters on the Boston subway in November, my curiosity was piqued. It was an ad for an exhibit titled “Objects of Addiction: The Opium Empire and the Chinese Art Trade” at the Harvard Art Museums. I made a plan to visit a few weeks later with my brother.

The Harvard Art Museums, a collection of smaller museums and galleries, are housed in a beautiful building with a glass ceiling and five-story atrium courtyard. The Opium and Addiction Exhibit was housed in the special exhibitions hall on the third floor. Before my brother and I made our way up to the special exhibit, we decided to stroll through the second floor, which had hundreds of stunning and priceless works of art. However, the more pieces I admired, the more I saw the name “Arthur M. Sackler” proudly displayed on the accompanying placards.