Material Culture in Transit: Theory and Practice constellates curators and scholars actively working with material culture within academic and museal institutions through theory and practice. The rich collection of essays critically addresses the multivalent ways in which mobility reshapes the characteristics of artefacts, specifically under prevailing issues of representation and colonial liabilities. The volume attests to material culture as central to understanding the repercussions of problematic histories and proposes novel ways to address them. It offers valuable reading for scholars of anthropology, museum studies, history and others with an interest in material culture.
Author(s): Zainabu Jallo
Series: Routledge Studies in Anthropology and Museums
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 218
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgements
Moving Matter: Worlds of Material Culture
Studying Material Culture Across Disciplines
Objects in Transit
Anthropology, Museums and Historical Liabilities
Heuristic Materiality and Meaning-Making
Notes
References
Part I Museology: Representation and Colonial Liabilities
1 After Interpretive Dominance
Introduction
The MKB’s Location
Audiences of the MKB
Imperialism/Colonialism On the Swiss Agenda
Historicity
Conclusion
Notes
References
2 “Wo Ist Afrika?”: Of Reflexive Museography, and Other (Productive?) Disappointments
Introduction
Sharing the Ride
Glimpses Into the Professional Disappointer’s Persona
Take One: The Colonial Matrix of the Present
Take Two: Performing S(O)bjects
Karingana Karingana
Museums of Possible Worlds
Notes
References
3 “Out of Context” – Translocation of West African Artefacts to European Museums: The Case of the Leo Frobenius Collection From Mali
Introduction
Ci Wara – From “Ethnographic Stuff” to “Works of Art”
Colonial Context
Challenging Colonial Narratives
Notes
References
4 The Museum as a Colonial Archive: The Collection of Victor and Marie Solioz and Its Role in Forgetting the Colonial Past
Introduction
Dead Ends, Missing Links, and Widening Gaps in Ethnographic Museums
Agents of Empires
Emphasis and Omittance in Ethnographic Collecting
The Museum as a Colonial Archive
Conclusion
Notes
References
5 Museum Collections in Transit: Towards a History of the Artefacts of the Endeavour Voyage
Artefacts
Provenance
Thinking Provenance, Cross-Culturally
The Artefacts of the Endeavour Voyage
The Voyage
Where Did Artefacts Come From?
How Many Were Collected?
Where Are They Now?
Does It Matter?
Notes
References
Part II Heuristic Materiality Meanings and Transformations
6 “To Give Away My Collection for Free Would Be Nonsense”: Decorations and the Emergence of Ethnology in Imperial Germany
Introduction
Decorations and the Emergence of Ethnology in Imperial Germany
Decorations and the Determination of Value
Scientists and Decoration Hunters
The End of Decorations as Signs of Scientific Authority
Conclusion
Notes
References
7 Discourse On Objectification and Personification: Modern Forms of Material Cultural Identity in the Touareg Society
Introduction
The Touareg Society
Expressions of Cultural Identity in Touareg Society: Between Tradition and Modernity
Objectification and Personification as Transcultural Forms of Touareg Identity
Summary
Notes
References
8 The Material Culture of Vodun: Case Studies From Ghana, Togo, Germany and In-Between
Introduction
The Shrine as an Archive
Material and Medial Interspaces
The Musealization of Vodun
Notes
References
9 Ndambirkus and Ndaokus: Asmat Skulls in Transit
Introduction
Asmat
Restitution Or Repatriation
Ethics
Conclusion
Notes
References
10 On the Art of Forging Gods: Techniques, Forces and Materials in an Afro-Brazilian Religion
Introduction
The Jabá of Ogum
A Request From Exu
Forging Gods
Forging Relations
Conclusion, Or the Art of Making
Notes
References
Index
