Cultural representation through the use of artefacts is a challenging but vital role of any ethnographic collection. It is therefore important for ethnographic collections to consider the kinds of...Show moreCultural representation through the use of artefacts is a challenging but vital role of any ethnographic collection. It is therefore important for ethnographic collections to consider the kinds of narratives and knowledge which is created through the exhibition of artefacts. In order to understand the past and present patterns of a collection’s display, a comprehensive study of its exhibition history must first be mapped out. Such information is useful for curators to understand how their collections have been used in the past, how they are used presently and how they may improve their use for the future. This research paper does such a study, by looking at the exhibition history of the Weltmuseum Wien’s Brazilian collection. By compiling data from past exhibitions, the frequency of display for each accessioned object has been identified. The data was gathered using the museum’s database, archival loan contracts as well as past exhibition catalogues. Analysis of this data set was conducted in order to discuss the implications and findings. Particular interest is paid to the most exhibited objects in the collection and the consequences pertaining to their frequent display. Curatorial practices and the creation of narratives in the museum context are discussed. In order to contextualize this research, the history of loaning and curatorial practices are generally considered as well as in relation to the Weltmuseum in particular. The museum’s origins, the creation of the collection and the key collectors involved are described. This information offers the reader a better understanding of the types of objects in the collection and their background. The findings of this research are positioned in relation to the greater debates surrounding curatorial and exhibition practices in the field. Themes concerning stakeholders, indigenous communities and museum ethics are included throughout the paper. This research also contributes to the academic and curatorial management work currently underway at the museum. By combining the three data sources (database, loan records, exhibition catalogues), the comprehensive list which was created in this study will directly benefit the museum and their records.Show less
Research master thesis | Arts and Culture (research) (MA)
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This thesis explores the exhibition-tryptic Crisis of History held at the gallery space Framer Framed in Amsterdam in 2014-2015. It investigates how its practices can be regarded as innovative in...Show moreThis thesis explores the exhibition-tryptic Crisis of History held at the gallery space Framer Framed in Amsterdam in 2014-2015. It investigates how its practices can be regarded as innovative in shaping discourses on contemporary art. The exhibition looks critically at how ‘non-Western’ art has been dealt with in exhibition practices as well as in academic discourses and aims to present alternative visions. I have used the notions minor curating by Cotter and histoire croisée by Werner and Zimmermann, as well as Keshmirshekan’s critical history of contemporary art of Iran to conceptualise the exhibition practices of Crisis of History’s curators Robert Kluijver and Elham Puriyamehr. I have particularly zoomed-in on part #3 of the triptych as the layering of perspectives is most clearly visible here. The exhibition practices include strategies of self-representation, intellectual artistic positioning and open-endedness due to the equal importance of exhibition display and public programming. The use of the artworks, the offering of multiple and layered voices deployed in the exhibition practice shows how the interaction between theory, curatorial visions and artistic imagining of alternative pasts and futures brings the field of contemporary art forward in articulating visions towards the development of an inclusive art history.Show less
