Not Really Pacific Voices: Politics of Representation in Collaborative Museum Exhibits

This article examines a problem common to many museums of art and ethnology: how to exhibit old collections of traditional material culture from peoples who are very much alive and active today. As a case study, it examines the role and participation of the Alaskan Native peoples whose 19th‐century materials are to be exhibited; the design of the exhibition, including the contemporary arts and material cultural traditions in the traveling exhibition; and the itinerary of the exhibit, including the problem of presentations in Native villages. It places this case study within the evolution of museums' functions and stakeholders' expectations, in comparison with other forms of contemporary museums and cultural centers, as aspects of control and interpretation revert more and more into the hands of the source communities.

“…Unfortunately the details of the planning processes were not meticulously recorded with this publication in mind. It therefore suffers in comparison to fuller accounts (e.g., Kahn 2008).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Second Exhibitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

ANCIENT AND MODERN: The Alaska Collections at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology

Graburn

2012

“…The anthropological approach to this type of participatory process would be to recognize the complexities of inclusion and to understand the need for also maintaining the “outsider voice” and the value of “critical estrangement” such that “first voice” is tempered with anthropological perspective (cf. Kahn :57–74). Thus, with a commitment to dialogue, the anthropologist inserts a distinct perspective that can provide new insights for community members as much as they provide new insights for the anthropologist.…”

Section: An Emerging Framework For An Urban Collection At a Natural Hmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collecting Contemporary Urban Culture: An Emerging Framework for the Field Museum

Wali

2014

The article discusses a process and protocol for adding contemporary urban material culture to the Field Museum. The Field Museum is a natural history museum with significant anthropology collections that has experimented with exhibiting contemporary cultural themes but lacks a significant collection in this area. I argue that urban lifeways are an important area for collecting work and that building such a collection should be done within the parameters of anthropological theorizing on social life, material culture, and the urban context. [collections protocols, urban material culture, Field Museum]

“…Vergo :21). They believe the full‐scale collaboration found in the community‐led exhibition and participation at every level of the museum is necessary for cultural, moral, and historical accuracy (Bouquet ; Kahn :71; Peers and Brown :2, 7–8; but see Dubin :98; Zimmerman ). While critics of multivocal exhibitions might argue that there are too many different voices claiming authority over history, multivocality may also overcome some stereotypical attitudes by acknowledging that everyone has some knowledge to share (Phillips :162).…”

Section: The Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

ENGAGING WITH PASTS IN THE PRESENT: Curators, Communities, and Exhibition Practice

Scott

2012

Arising from a one‐day symposium entitled “Ancient and Modern: Exhibiting the Past in the Present” at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, the theme for this special issue of Museum Anthropology focuses on contemporary museum practice. The contributors are specifically interested in the challenges of exhibiting “pasts” in the “present” while doing justice to the historical and modern peoples and cultures represented in exhibitions. The authors also explore related ideas about collaboration with source communities and how collecting practices have determined what is considered valuable and thus worthy of display in public museums.