Description: Amid calls for decolonization and digital innovation, this necessary work explores the shifting histories and futures of ethnographic museums worldwide.
Ethnographic museums are at a crossroads; caught between colonial legacies, and the difficulties of captivating new audiences in a digital world. Reframing the Ethnographic Museum brings together leading scholars and curators to study the shifting role of these institutions in a rapidly changing cultural and political landscape. From Asia to Africa, the book explores how different museum strategies have grappled with decolonization and digital transformation, engaging in critical analysis and including case studies of innovative curatorial practices. As museums confront calls for accountability and reconsider their collections, this volume provides a relevant exploration of the dilemmas and possibilities facing ethnographic display today. Reframing the Ethnographic Museum urges us to rethink how we engage with the past, and how museums can become spaces of dialogue and reflection.Brief description: Michael Rowlands is professor emeritus of material culture in the UCL Department of Anthropology.
Review Quotes: "Ethnographic museums have been controversial - and have been undergoing re-invention - for decades. They are considered illegitimate, but have renewed prominence, as highly visible "contact zones" and theatres of cross-cultural mediation. This book reviews and explores the sector with insight and nuance, reporting the successes and failures of key curatorial projects, both within Europe and across the Global South."-- "Nicholas Thomas, University of Cambridge"