Annotating Colonialism

Recent Exhibit Interventions in Historic Cultural (Mis)Representation at the American Museum of Natural History

Bibliographic Data

ID2435403
AuthorsLeonie Treier (0000-0003-2754-0384, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume15
Issue1
Pages84-105
Publication date2021-09-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMuseum Anthropology Review (Indiana University) (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1938-5145 • E-ISSN: 1938-5145
PublisherI US ch ol ar Wo rk s (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.14434/mar.v15i1.31800
OpenAlexW3199153614
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited16

This exhibition review essay compares three recent interventions into historic cultural representations at the American Museum of Natural History: the Digital Totem that was placed in the Northwest Coast Hall in 2016 to partially modernize its content, the 2018 reconsideration of the Old New York Diorama, which attempts to correct its stereotypical representations of Native North American peoples, and the 2019 exhibition Addressing the Statue providing context for the Theodore Roosevelt statue. Paying attention to visual and textual strategies, I characterize these three interventions as temporary annotations to what have been remarkably static, long-term cultural representations. I argue that, through these annotations, the museum acknowledges the misrepresentations but does not resolve them. The case studies show varying degrees of critical historical reflection expressing the complexities of negotiating different approaches and agendas to engaging with the museum's past. I also comment on the pervasiveness of a digital aesthetics in all three projects, even though only the Digital Totem was produced as a digital, interactive intervention into the museum space. The invocation of a digital design vocabulary enhances the impression of annotation

Archaeology · Art · Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Exhibition · Media studies · Sociology · Statue · Totem · Visual arts · Woodcut · Conservation Techniques and Studies · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · History · Museums and Cultural Heritage

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Open DOIOpen Access