Cannibal Tours and Glass Boxes: The Anthropology of Museums

Very interesting book. Museums seem to have changed. The ones I loved as a child were places of wonder with exotic stuff in glass cases and outrigger canoes hanging from the ceiling and a great many shiver-inducing skulls. These days they've gone all educational and interactive and I think may be losing the sense of wonder. But that's just me. This book is a very good survey.

Museums have a long history, but for most of that time they were just for rich people who accumulated curious or beautiful objects for themselves. Their friends or the people they wanted to impress got to see things, otherwise the public had no access. Museums open to the public generally began in the 19th century. Ames concentrates mainly on anthropological museums. He rightly notes early on that besides the exhibits, such museums also display the power structures of the society that puts them up. The modern technical design and production of a large-scale exhibit on other cultures contrasts with the items being shown because the latter are "captive items" taken or "collected" by specialists from those who don't (or didn't used to) have museums. A large museum of art or anthropology is a necessary part of a city's image of sophistication, he points out on page 101. Such museums express in many ways the basic values and world view of their society. WE---the modern people---put YOUR stuff in an exhibit, but all around you see our grand technology. As education and globalization spread, the once-"primitive" people begin to resent their lower status as represented in museums and demand the return of objects or they construct their own museums in which they represent themselves as they wish. The examples here are all drawn from various Canadian museums and Canadian society. There are some basic questions discussed here, but not in full. These are "What is knowledge and who can produce it and spread it?" "How should other cultures be exhibited---or, if you like, what should be put in a museum?" "What is the difference between beautiful objects of our civilization and those of others?" Also, "What is public taste and who has the right to determine it?" The author also goes into many of the internal problems faced by anthropology museums such as the divide between research and public relations. If any of these questions interest you, you might give this book a shot. I wouldn't say it is the best organized book I've ever read and the topics go by quite quickly. But, for getting into a most interesting subject, this is probably an excellent introduction.