Indexing (in) Authenticity

Art and artefact in ethnography museums

Bibliographic Data

ID22970801
AuthorsCarine Ayélé Durand (University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume6
Issue3
Pages248-260
Publication date2010-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAlterNative An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1177-1801 • E-ISSN: 1174-1740
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/117718011000600305
OpenAlexW1535193284
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited23

Over the past three decades, ethnographic museums have increasingly collected and displayed contemporary artworks in order to challenge assumptions about the (in)authenticity of cultural minorities. Yet, this paper argues, by perpetuating ambiguities and contradictions in their collecting and display practices, they have often failed to fully acknowledge the complexities attached to the notion of cultural continuity. Drawing on examples from the Etnografiska Museet in Stockholm and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) in Cambridge, it is suggested that the collecting of contemporary artworks in ethnographic museums might not be sufficient to make these institutions socially and politically relevant. As some of the Sámi and Māori artists involved have indicated, direct engagement between artists and museum staff, and with the public, is fundamental to conveying that their artworks are at once “traditional” and “contemporary”.

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Contemporary art · Ethnography · Order (exchange) · Sociology · Visual arts · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Museology · Museums and Cultural Heritage

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