Ethnographic artifacts and value transformations

Bibliographic Data

ID2990306
AuthorsR Henry (0000-0002-1762-5715, James Cook University), T Otto (0000-0002-5185-3017, James Cook University), Michael Wood (0000-0002-6216-142X, James Cook University)
Year2013
Volume3
Issue2
Pages33-51
Publication date2013-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHau Journal of Ethnographic Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2049-1115 • E-ISSN: 2575-1433
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.14318/hau3.2.004
OpenAlexW2027385256
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited23

Transactions of ethnographic artifacts between Indigenous producers, European collectors, museums, and the state create and transform multiple notions of value. In this paper we discuss how an artifact's value is generated and transformed through various transactions linked to the documentation and property claims made by scientific collectors, such as Eric Mjöberg, Herman Klaatsch, and Ursula McConnel. Such artifacts have now entered a new dynamic given Aboriginal claims for repatriation and other forms of reappropriation. We argue that the entanglement of artifacts in the property claims of the collectors, the producers (or their descendants), the granting bodies, and the public institutions, exposes artifacts to complex processes of value accretion and transformation

Epistemology · Ethnography · Sociology · Statistics · Value (mathematics · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture · Mathematics · Philosophy · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access