Download or read book The Brutish Museums written by Dan Hicks and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Walk into any European museum today and you will see the curated spoils of Empire. They sit behind plate glass: dignified, tastefully lit. Accompanying pieces of card offer a name, date and place of origin. They do not mention that the objectsare all stolen. Few artefacts embody this history of rapacious and extractive colonialism better than the Benin Bronzes - a collection of thousands of brass plaques and carved ivory tusks depicting the history of the Royal Court of the Obas of BeninCity, Nigeria. Pillaged during a British naval attack in 1897, the loot was passed on to Queen Victoria, the British Museum and countless private collections. The story of the Benin Bronzes sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation and the decolonisation of museums. In The Brutish Museums, Dan Hicks makes a powerful case for the urgent return of such objects, as part of a wider project of addressing the outstanding debt of colonialism.
Download or read book Museums and empire written by John M. MacKenzie and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-01 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Museums and Empire is the first book to examine the origins and development of museums in six major regions if the British Empire in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It analyses museum histories in thirteen major centres in Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India and South-East Asia, setting them into the economic and social contexts of the cities and colonies in which they were located. Written in a lively and informative style, it also touches upon the history of many other museums in Britain and other territories of the Empire. A number of key themes emerge from its pages; the development of elites within colonial towns and cities; the emergence of the full range of cultural institutions associated with this; and the reception and modification of the key scientific ideas of the age. It will be essential reading for students and academics concerned with museum studies and imperial history and to a wider public devoted to the cause of museums and heritage
Download or read book A Place That Matters Yet written by Sara Byala and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-06-15 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Place That Matters Yet unearths the little-known story of Johannesburg’s MuseumAfrica, a South African history museum that embodies one of the most dynamic and fraught stories of colonialism and postcolonialism, its life spanning the eras before, during, and after apartheid. Sara Byala, in examining this story, sheds new light not only on racism and its institutionalization in South Africa but also on the problems facing any museum that is charged with navigating colonial history from a postcolonial perspective. Drawing on thirty years of personal letters and public writings by museum founder John Gubbins, Byala paints a picture of a uniquely progressive colonist, focusing on his philosophical notion of “three-dimensional thinking,” which aimed to transcend binaries and thus—quite explicitly—racism. Unfortunately, Gubbins died within weeks of the museum’s opening, and his hopes would go unrealized as the museum fell in line with emergent apartheid politics. Following the museum through this transformation and on to its 1994 reconfiguration as a post-apartheid institution, Byala showcases it as a rich—and problematic—archive of both material culture and the ideas that surround that culture, arguing for its continued importance in the establishment of a unified South Africa.
Download or read book Cracks in the Dome Fractured Histories of Empire in the Zanzibar Museum 1897 1964 written by Sarah Longair and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-09 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As one of the most monumental and recognisable landmarks from Zanzibar’s years as a British Protectorate, the distinctive domed building of the Zanzibar Museum (also known as the Beit al-Amani or Peace Memorial Museum) is widely known and familiar to Zanzibaris and visitors alike. Yet the complicated and compelling history behind its construction and collection has been overlooked by historians until now. Drawing on a rich and wide range of hitherto unexplored archival, photographic, architectural and material evidence, this book is the first serious investigation of this remarkable institution. Although the museum was not opened until 1925, this book traces the longer history of colonial display which culminated in the establishment of the Zanzibar Museum. It reveals the complexity of colonial knowledge production in the changing political context of the twentieth century British Empire and explores the broad spectrum of people from diverse communities who shaped its existence as staff, informants, collectors and teachers. Through vivid narratives involving people, objects and exhibits, this book exposes the fractures, contradictions and tensions in creating and maintaining a colonial museum, and casts light on the conflicted character of the ’colonial mission’ in eastern Africa.
Download or read book Report written by Royal Scottish Museum and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Report on the Working of the Museum Department written by Malta. Museum Department and published by . This book was released on 1926 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Scattered Finds written by Alice Stevenson and published by UCL Press. This book was released on 2019-01-22 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between the 1880s and 1980s, British excavations at locations across Egypt resulted in the discovery of hundreds of thousands of ancient objects that were subsequently sent to some 350 institutions worldwide. These finds included unique discoveries at iconic sites such as the tombs of ancient Egypt's first rulers at Abydos, Akhenaten and Nefertiti’s city of Tell el-Amarna and rich Roman Era burials in the Fayum. Scattered Finds explores the politics, personalities and social histories that linked fieldwork in Egypt with the varied organizations around the world that received finds. Case studies range from Victorian municipal museums and women’s suffrage campaigns in the UK, to the development of some of the USA’s largest institutions, and from university museums in Japan to new institutions in post-independence Ghana. By juxtaposing a diversity of sites for the reception of Egyptian cultural heritage over the period of a century, Alice Stevenson presents new ideas about the development of archaeology, museums and the construction of Egyptian heritage. She also addresses the legacy of these practices, raises questions about the nature of the authority over such heritage today, and argues for a stronger ethical commitment to its stewardship. Praise for Scattered Finds 'Scattered Finds is a remarkable achievement. In charting how British excavations in Egypt dispersed artefacts around the globe, at an unprecedented scale, Alice Stevenson shows us how ancient objects created knowledge about the past while firmly anchored in the present. No one who reads this timely book will be able to look at an Egyptian antiquity in the same way again.' Professor Christina Riggs, UEA
Download or read book A History of the Iziko South African National Gallery written by Anna Tietze and published by Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd. This book was released on 2017-06-14 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In South Africa, with its highly contested and changing understandings of national identity, its National Gallery is no less a contested space. A History of the Iziko South African National Gallery considers questions of artistic and cultural identity, from the late 19th century to the present day. It explores how the gallery has understood its function and its public, as a ‘national’ gallery from 1930 and, before that, the chief gallery of the Cape Colony. This question is investigated through a study of the gallery’s administration, collection and exhibition practices over the last 150 years. What is understood by and expected of a national gallery varies considerably worldwide. Should it regard itself as part of a broad international cultural discourse, or should it be representative of a specifically national – or even regional – identity? The gallery is a microcosm of the greater debate: how the South African nation relates to the larger world and how, if at all, it understands the concept of a shared culture. In the last 20 years, Museum Studies have become a major part of the field of Cultural Studies. There is a vast literature on what might be called the ‘history’ museum, but far less on the art museum or gallery. To date, there has been no large-scale historical inquiry into the Iziko SANG, the country’s national gallery. The absence of such a history marks a serious gap in the literature, which this study aims to fill.
Download or read book A Commonwealth of Knowledge written by Saul Dubow and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2006-10-19 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first full study of the relationship of knowledge to national identity formation in modern South Africa. It explores how the cultivation of knowledge served to support white political ascendancy and claims to nationhood. Elegantly written and wide ranging, the book addresses major themes in both South African and comparative imperial historiography.
Download or read book Between Union and Liberation written by Marion Arnold and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essays collected here investigate art made by women in South Africa between 1910, the year of Union, and 1994, the year of the first democratic election. During this period, complex political circumstances and the impact of modernism in South Africa affected the production of images and objects. The essays explore the ways in which the socio-political circumstances associated with twentieth-century modernity had a paradoxical impact on women. If some were empowered, others were disadvantaged: while some were able to further their social and cultural development and expression, the advancement of others was impeded. The contributors study the lives and achievements of women - named and un-named, black and white, and from different cultural groups and social contexts - and consider objects and images that are historically associated with both 'art' and 'craft'. In all the essays, gender theory is related to South African circumstances. The volume explores gender theory in relation to twentieth-century visual culture and discusses economic conditions and regional geographies as well as notions of identity. It investigates the influence of educational and cultural institutions, the role of theory on art practice, debates about material culture, the power of nationalist ideologies and the role of feminist theories in a changing country. A wide range of visual images and objects provide the touchstone for debate and analysis - paintings, sculptures, photography, baskets, tapestries, embroideries and ceramics - so that the book is richly visual and celebrates the diversity of South African art made by women.
Download or read book British Women and Cultural Practices of Empire 1770 1940 written by Rosie Dias and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-10-04 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Correspondence, travel writing, diary writing, painting, scrapbooking, curating, collecting and house interiors allowed British women scope to express their responses to imperial sites and experiences in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Taking these productions as its archive, British Women and Cultural Practices of Empire, 1775-1930 includes a collection of essays from different disciplines that consider the role of British women's cultural practices and productions in conceptualising empire. While such productions have started to receive greater scholarly attention, this volume uses a more self-conscious lens of gender to question whether female cultural work demonstrates that colonial women engaged with the spaces and places of empire in distinctive ways. By working across disciplines, centuries and different colonial geographies, the volume makes an exciting and important contribution to the field by demonstrating the diverse ways in which European women shaped constructions of empire in the modern period.
Download or read book Transformation of Archives and Heritage Education in Post apartheid South Africa written by Geraldine Frieslaar and published by African Sun Media. This book was released on 2023-06-10 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although there have been significant strides to transform the demographics of archive and museum personnel, develop new museums and heritage institutions and heritage training initiatives in post-apartheid South Africa, the Eurocentric model of the archive, museum and heritage sector has largely remained intact. Despite the euphoria around the transformation of heritage in the beginnings of post-apartheid South Africa, it can be argued that the transformation of heritage institutions has been superficial and cosmetic with the ideological foundation of the colonial archive and museum, as well as Eurocentric modalities of heritage education remaining solid, largely unmoved, and under continuing challenge. This is the thrust of this book which reflects on the transformation of archives, and museum and heritage education in South Africa and argues for meaningful transformation of the sector through a decolonisation from its Eurocentric mooring.
Download or read book A Report on the Museums and Art Galleries of British Africa written by Sir Henry Alexander Miers and published by . This book was released on 1932 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Catalogue of the Colonial Office Library London written by Great Britain. Colonial Office. Library and published by . This book was released on 1964 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Report of Trustees for the Year written by Australian Museum and published by . This book was released on 1901 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Annual Report for the Year written by John Crerar Library and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book African Art in Detail written by Christopher Spring and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book opens with the question, What is African art? The answer is a brilliantly colorful and detailed look at the myriad materials and genres, forms and meanings, cultural contexts and expressions that comprise artistic traditions across this vast and varied continent. Viewing artworks in their contexts--ancient and modern, urban and rural, western and eastern, decorative and functional--the book is nothing less than a virtual tour of African culture. Masks, textiles, royal art, sculpture, ceramics, tools and weapons--in each instance, the book features examples that reveal the most significant aspects of workmanship, materials, and design in objects of wood, stone, ivory, clay, metalwork, featherwork, leather, basketwork, and cloth. Photographs of each piece alongside close-ups of fine details afford new views of these works and allow for intriguing comparisons between seemingly unrelated objects and media. The featured details evoke the hand and eye of the most accomplished craftspeople across Africa, past and present. In sum, these photographs, along with Chris Spring's enlightening commentary, offer an experience of African art that is at once broad and deep, richly informed and intimately felt. They are, at the same time, a kaleidoscopic view of art from prehistory to gestures prefiguring the future.
