I had the pleasure of seeing Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches on a Saturday afternoon with a friend. Perhaps pleasure is an odd word to describe the experience of seeing live sea lampreys, old leech containers, and models of red blood cells, but it was an overall, fascinating and informative experience.
Before visitors experience Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches there is a warning that I wish I had taken a photo of. While I don't remember the exact wording, the impression that my friend and I got from it was that there would not be depictions of actual bloodsucking throughout, but more on this later.
The exhibit opens with a discussion of what blood is made of and what bloodsuckers need out of it. This was a fantastic way to open the exhibit as while we all have blood, many of us, including myself, don't realize what is included in it and what about it is attractive to bloodsuckers. In addition, the larger-than-life model of red blood cells was enticing and almost enchanting.
The exhibit easily flows into how the bloodsuckers get their bloodmeals. This section even featured an interactive feature allowing visitors to pretend to be a mosquito on the hunt for blood. Once again, larger-than-life models show off the features, mostly the mouth parts, of bloodsuckers.
Next up there were some live bloodsuckers: the most fascinating of which were the sea lampreys with their toothy maws suctioned to the glass tank. This portion also featured the first mention of vampiric birds which was a shocker to me as I hadn't heard of such a species before. However, it was here that I want to discuss the warning I mentioned earlier. While there was no actual blood on display, this area of the exhibit featured videos of bloodsucking from a variety of species. Now, it is entirely possible that I misread the warning at the beginning, but the videos were a little shocking to see given that I was under the impression they wouldn't be in the exhibit at all.
It was also in this area that my friend and I began to notice some typos, which lessened the effectiveness of the exhibit. However, there were some small typos throughout. As the exhibit flowed into legendary bloodsuckers from many cultures, my interest was piqued. Of course, I had heard of vampires before, but there were many more and there was even a storyteller relaying the tale of one from her culture. However, again, there was some confusing--or perhaps ill-done--signage. There seemed to be one more bloodsucker displayed than was explained which was a disappointment as I was sure I hadn't heard of it before.
The next portion dealt with bloodsuckers in various forms of media. While there was a great variety presented and an engaging series of clips from movies, TV shows, and other shorts, the section missed a vital opportunity to discuss in greater depth the meaning of bloodsuckers, especially vampires, to people. It felt like this portion only scratched a poor surface.
However, the next section was, in my opinion, the most anemic (if you'll forgive the pun). It was a section on the medical use of bloodsuckers and bloodletting. The room felt tonally out of place as the colors of the walls were jarringly different. Furthermore, the signage in the section varied in style and some came off as lacking in elegance and style. The notion of blood transfusions (perhaps one could call it medical bloodsucking) was not gone over. While non-blood topics were briefly covered, such as enemas, ritualistic bloodletting was not explored. It felt as though medical bloodletting could have easily flowed into ritualistic bloodletting and the lack of even a mention was surprising.
Following the medical section, the anemia did not improve. A lackluster section on diseases that bloodsuckers can transmit was next up and it didn't seem to go into any in-depth, though the information that was presented was sobering to see.
Living with bloodsuckers finished out the exhibit. However, there was a lot of misused space in this finale. There was a mannequin stuck in a corner covered in protective gear and then a large swath of fake wilderness featuring not a bloodsucker in sight. It was odd and almost jarring to see when the space could have been better used by even simply putting a seating area there.
The exhibit closed with a limp whisper of moral: that bloodsuckers contribute to the environment. However, this point was glossed over and not presented compellingly or even vibrantly. More work should have been placed into the conclusion of this exhibit.
I feel as though I spent a long time going over the faults of this exhibit, but I want to emphasize that, while there were faults, I am very glad I saw this exhibit. The opening was impressive, informative, and even inspiring. Learning about legendary bloodsuckers of a variety of cultures was fascinating and insightful. I would recommend this exhibit to all visitors of The Field.
*Disclaimer: Some of the thoughts presented here stem from a conversation I had with my friend after seeing the exhibit so all thoughts may not be entirely my own. Also, I spent more than 15 minutes on this.
(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)
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