Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
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This thesis is a result of anthropological research that I conducted at the Volkenkunde Museum in Leiden (Museum of Ethnology). The research is about the change in the organization of the museum in...Show moreThis thesis is a result of anthropological research that I conducted at the Volkenkunde Museum in Leiden (Museum of Ethnology). The research is about the change in the organization of the museum in the last 25 years. The change of organization had an influence on the decision making process and consequently on the image that is being formed in exhibitions. The aim of this thesis is to explain how image-forming is been done in a decision making process. Specifically I will do this in relation to permanent and temporary Indonesian exhibitions at the museum. I use the term ‘imagined community’, introduced by Benedict Anderson, to show that the image that is formed in Indonesian exhibitions is an imagined one. When the museum went through a change of organization in the 1990’s, it also redecorated the exhibition halls. For the discussion on the new design of the museum I use the distinction made in Sally Price’s book ‘“primitive art in civilized places” between objects displayed in art and ethnology museum. As a case study I will describe my internship at the Volkenkunde Museum on the Queen Wilhelmina doll collection.Show less
