This MA thesis focuses on the three waves of Japanophilia that appeared in the United States between 1876 and 2011 by questioning how they came into being, why they changed/disappeared, and what...Show moreThis MA thesis focuses on the three waves of Japanophilia that appeared in the United States between 1876 and 2011 by questioning how they came into being, why they changed/disappeared, and what constituted their uniqueness. The appearance, display and promotion of Japanese visual arts and culture are considered in the context of shifting power dynamics in the world that altered according to political changes, military conflicts, economic booms/downfalls, and the globalisation of culture. As a primary goal, this thesis explores the identity of stakeholders who played an important role in importing and promoting Japanese art and culture into the United States. At the same time, the thesis elaborates on the nature of the imported, exhibited and consumed Japanese artistic and cultural products and the variety of the main platforms and events at which these appeared. Finally, in reflection to the various socio-cultural, economic and political events, the thesis examines how the inflow of Japanese art and culture have shaped American public opinion, and vice versa, in the past and the present with assumptions towards the possible future.Show less
This thesis questions the representation of the Dutch West- and East-Indies slavery pasts in current museum exhibitions. What is on display? Whose stories are told? Whose voices are silenced? Which...Show moreThis thesis questions the representation of the Dutch West- and East-Indies slavery pasts in current museum exhibitions. What is on display? Whose stories are told? Whose voices are silenced? Which sources could be added to create more critical and multi-perspective museum narratives?Show less
The display and curation of Islamic art is complex, as Islam is a multi-faceted culture and religion which requires layered and nuanced art historical analysis. The research done in this thesis...Show moreThe display and curation of Islamic art is complex, as Islam is a multi-faceted culture and religion which requires layered and nuanced art historical analysis. The research done in this thesis will begin to unpack why it is difficult to curate Islamic art, how it has been done both successfully and unsuccessfully in the past, and how it might be done in the future. The question revolves around the proposed idea that geopolitical context has a lasting and impactful influence on museum curation, and that museums must be considered within their geopolitical context in order to understand why objects have been curated in a particular way. The first chapter will explore the issues surrounding the curation of Islamic art, and how the secular and religious being so often conflated affects visitor perceptions of the objects, especially religious objects. The second chapter uses this analysis to explore the effect of imperial legacies on European museums and their curation of Islamic art and objects, highlighting how the context must be faced up to in order to ensure helpful curation. The third chapter looks to Turkey, and how the political, religious and cultural landscapes are intertwined, exploring how museums and curation are often used as part of political policy. Islamic art and objects, both religious and secular, are fascinating and form part of a culture which deserves to be curated in a way that dismantles tropes and stereotypes, whilst allowing the religious and secular elements of the culture to be effectively highlighted.Show less
The thesis explores the consequences of the domestication of street art in the forms of institutionalization and heritagization through a multi- and interdisciplinary approach.
This thesis follows the trajectories of two museums, the National Museum of Damascus and the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, across the past two decades, to investigate the extent to which notions of...Show moreThis thesis follows the trajectories of two museums, the National Museum of Damascus and the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, across the past two decades, to investigate the extent to which notions of nation, national heritage and the public good have come to be evaluated before, during and after conflict. Charged with pride and burdened with pain, the material heritage of this region in many ways stood at the centre of the conflicts of the past twenty years, and would come to define the future of the nations of Syria and Iraq. Tracing the histories of the two national museums, from closure to reopening, through the vantage point of the antiquities in their collections, this thesis strives to illustrate how Syrian and Iraqi heritage has been appropriated and narrated in strategic and contested ways by a diverse network of invested actors, both locally and globally. Drawing on exhibitions and press material surrounding pivotal events in these museums’ biographies, this thesis argues that in suppressing the legacy of pain and trauma with which their patrimonies are inscribed, local and international culture professionals impeded post-conflict healing and inadvertently acted against the interest of the public good. Reconstructing the museum and its destroyed collections could serve to incite national introspection and to reconnect the peoples of Syria and Iraq with the heritage from which they have for so long been alienated, but if recent years’ heritage trauma remains unaddressed in the post-conflict museum, genuine healing may never be attained. In order to lay the groundwork for reconciliation, and to pave the way for the transformation of conflict, this thesis proposes agonistic dialogue as the means through which museum professionals and museum publics may collectively come to terms with the healing and hurting sides of their national heritage.Show less
The thesis explores how the nation builders in East Asia have deployed the western invention of the museum to facilitate nationalism in the context of modernization and globalization initiated by...Show moreThe thesis explores how the nation builders in East Asia have deployed the western invention of the museum to facilitate nationalism in the context of modernization and globalization initiated by European imperialist expansionism. By focusing on the past and afterlife of the National Central Museum of Manchukuo (1939-1945), we are offered more clues to unfold the complex and often paradoxical position that the Japanese imperialists and scholars took in their ambitious project of constructing an independent identity of Manchkuo in relation to the China proper.Show less
On the 8th of December 2018 the Ephesos Museum reopened its exhibition spaces of the permanent collection in the Viennese Hofburg after being closed for a year. This research aims to compare this...Show moreOn the 8th of December 2018 the Ephesos Museum reopened its exhibition spaces of the permanent collection in the Viennese Hofburg after being closed for a year. This research aims to compare this new exhibition with the original exhibition of the museum four decades ago and investigate the influence archaeological research, political intentions, and national identity had on the composition of the collection, the opening, and display of the museum in 1978 as well as the reopened exhibition in 2018.Show less
