Exhibiting the Exotic, Simulating the Sacred

Tibetan Shrines at British and American Museums

Bibliographic Data

ID17820840
AuthorsImogen Clark (0000-0002-5708-6285, PharmacoGenetics (China), corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume43
Publication date2016-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAteliers d anthropologie (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2117-3869 • E-ISSN: 1954-3646
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/ateliers.10300
OpenAlexW2527811936
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited17

Tibetan material culture has often been displayed in museums in the form of shrines. In these displays, Tibetan culture has been defined for viewers as overridingly religious, that is to say Buddhist. Why have shrine displays become such popular curatorial strategies? What effects do they achieve compared to “artistic” forms of representation? Why have Tibetan artefacts been predominantly constructed and displayed according to this religious vision?Paying close attention to how such displays encourage “ways of seeing” (Alpers, 1991), this paper investigates how Tibetan culture is characterised for visitors to museums. It explores the tension between “secular” and “religious” in shrine installations, and questions the relevance of these concepts for Tibetan material culture. Finally, it asks how appropriate shrine displays are according to Tibetan and Tibetan Buddhist perspectives, exploring the wider effects of these displays in relation to their representation of Tibetanness

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Geography · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · Museums and Cultural Heritage · Religious Tourism and Spaces

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