Of Objects and Contexts : Biographies of Ethnographica - article ; n°1 ; vol.69, pg 81-103

Ute Röschenthaler

Description

Journal des africanistes - Année 1999 - Volume 69 - Numéro 1 - Pages 81-103
Dans le cas des objets ethnographiques, signification et contexte vont de pair. Les institutions en charge de l'exposition proposent une signification, que les visiteurs interprètent. Le concepteur d'une exposition fait des choix, il privilégie les « objets d'art authentiques », ou présente des objets diversement représentatifs des cultures. Mais le visiteur a rarement conscience que les expositions sont des constructions. Cet article suggère qu'un moyen de faire apparaître le caractère construit d'une exposition, tout en gardant aux objets quelque chose de leur « aura d'irremplaçable singularité », est de présenter la biographie de ces objets, c'est-à-dire l'histoire qui va de leur création et leur acquisition au moment et au lieu où le visiteur les rencontre.
In the case of ethnographic objects, meaning and context are linked to each other. Meaning is conveyed by exhibiting institutions and interpreted by visitors. The designer of an exhibition may select « authentic art works » only or present objects representing cultures in various ways. However, the visitor is rarely reminded of the fact that exhibitions are constructions. This article suggests that one way of making people aware of the constructed nature of an exhibition, all the while maintaining some of an object's aura of singularity, is to present an objects' biography, that is, the history of its creation and acquisition up until the time and place of the visitor's encounter with it.
23 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique

Informations

• Publié par: JOURNAL_DES_AFRICANISTES
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1999
• Nombre de lectures: 51
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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Ute Röschenthaler
Of Objects and Contexts : Biographies of Ethnographica
In: Journal des africanistes. 1999, tome 69 fascicule 1. pp. 81-103.
Résumé
Dans le cas des objets ethnographiques, signification et contexte vont de pair. Les institutions en charge de l'exposition
proposent une signification, que les visiteurs interprètent. Le concepteur d'une exposition fait des choix, il privilégie les « objets
d'art authentiques », ou présente des objets diversement représentatifs des cultures. Mais le visiteur a rarement conscience que
les expositions sont des constructions. Cet article suggère qu'un moyen de faire apparaître le caractère construit d'une
exposition, tout en gardant aux objets quelque chose de leur « aura d'irremplaçable singularité », est de présenter la biographie
de ces objets, c'est-à-dire l'histoire qui va de leur création et leur acquisition au moment et au lieu où le visiteur les rencontre.
Abstract
In the case of ethnographic objects, meaning and context are linked to each other. Meaning is conveyed by exhibiting institutions
and interpreted by visitors. The designer of an exhibition may select « authentic art works » only or present objects representing
cultures in various ways. However, the visitor is rarely reminded of the fact that exhibitions are constructions. This article
suggests that one way of making people aware of the constructed nature of an exhibition, all the while maintaining some of an
object's "aura of singularity", is to present an objects' biography, that is, the history of its creation and acquisition up until the time
and place of the visitor's encounter with it.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Röschenthaler Ute. Of Objects and Contexts : Biographies of Ethnographica. In: Journal des africanistes. 1999, tome 69
fascicule 1. pp. 81-103.
doi : 10.3406/jafr.1999.1188
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/jafr_0399-0346_1999_num_69_1_1188RÔSCHENTHALER*
Ute
Of Objects and Contexts :
Biographies of Ethnographica
Résumé
Dans le cas des objets ethnographiques, signification et contexte vont de pair. Les
institutions en charge de l'exposition proposent une signification, que les visiteurs
interprètent. Le concepteur d'une exposition fait des choix, il privilégie les « objets d'art
authentiques », ou présente des objets diversement représentatifs des cultures. Mais le
visiteur a rarement conscience que les expositions sont des constructions. Cet article suggère
qu'un moyen de faire apparaître le caractère construit d'une exposition, tout en gardant aux
objets quelque chose de leur « aura d'irremplaçable singularité », est de présenter la
biographie de ces objets, c'est-à-dire l'histoire qui va de leur création et leur acquisition au
moment et au lieu où le visiteur les rencontre.
Mots-clefs
Cameroun, Berlin, musée ethnographique, colonialisme, contexte du sens
Abstract
In the case of ethnographie objects, meaning and context are linked to each other.
Meaning is conveyed by exhibiting institutions and interpreted by visitors. The designer of
an exhibition may select « authentic art works » only or present objects representing cultures
in various ways. However, the visitor is rarely reminded of the fact that exhibitions are
constructions. This article suggests that one way of making people aware of the constructed
nature of an exhibition, all the while maintaining some of an object's "aura of singularity",
is to present an objects' biography, that is, the history of its creation and acquisition up until
the time and place of the visitor's encounter with it.
Keywords
Cameroun, Berlin, ethnographic museum, contextuality of meaning
University of Frankfurt, Department of Historical Ethnology, Liebstr. 41, 60323
Frankfurt / Main, Germany.
Journal des Africanistes 69 (1) 1999 : 81-103 82 Ute RÔSCHENTHALER
The majority of objects in present ethnographic museums are testimonies
of the past. Ethnographic museums thus seem to have a difficult position in
a world whose furthest corners have been explored. Thier efforts are indeed
destined to focus less on the exploration of the boundaries of an other space
than upon the inner life of objects themselves. During the great time of
collecting — the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries — crowds of
visitors poured into public museums, colonial exhibitions and Vôlkerschauen.
There, the « Other » was interpreted against the background of the « Self ».
The image of Africa was invented, reinvented and defined by scholarly and
popular imagination (Coombes 1994). This fascination with the « Other » has
largely disappeard and ethnographic museums increasingly reflect on their
role in contemporary society today. Museums all over the world are more or
less successfully trying out alternative exhibition concepts (Karp & Lavině
1991, Schindlbeck & Muller 1993, Macdonald & Fyfe 1996).
The way a museum pursues this goal depends on its self-definition and
aims. When, for example, in 1980, the Berlin museums celebrated their 150th
anniversary, in (the then still divided) Germany, two books showed their
respective aims : the one from the eastern part of the city emphasized the
connection between enjoyment and education (Huhns 1980), whereas the one
from the western part stressed its concerns with preservation (Krieger 1980).
This was expressed pointedly by Knopp (1983: 11): «Collecting, and
preserving the objects collected, to explore and put them in order, and then
show them, i.e. to make them accessible to the public for enjoyment and
education — those are the three tasks of the museum. » (my translation)
Preservation of objects is important, of course, but access to them should be
of equal concern. Taking into account the decreasing numbers of visitors, a
museum should reflect upon its contribution to culture. Nobody would likely
question the usefulness of libraries and their holdings of all kinds of books.
For most libraries the effort to preserve books is not contradictory to making
them accessible in various ways (Feest 1993).
Another important question is how objects become meaningful for the
general public. When they are presented in exhibitions, complex processes of
unconsciously and intentionally conveyed meanings and interpretations are
involved on the side of both exhibition makers and visitors (Pearce : 1994).
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1991 : 434) has summarized some crucial points
referring to these processes : « Exhibitions, whether of objects or people, are
displays of the artifacts of our disciplines. They are for this reason also
exhibits of those who make them, no matter what their ostensible subject. The
first order of business is therefore to examine critically the conventions
guiding ethnographic display, to explicate how displays constitute subjects
Journal des Africanistes 69 (1) 1999 : 81-103 Of Objects and Contexts 83
and with what implications for those who see and those who are seen.
[...] The question is not whether or not an object is of visual interest, but
rather how interest of any kind is created. »
The question of the potential of objects to attract the interest of visitors
is very much related to the question of the museum's role today. Why do only
some objects or museums, and most blockbuster exhibitions, fascinate the
public so strongly ? What makes, for example, the Smithsonian Air and Space
Museum the favorite American museum ? Is it objects like the astronaut's
equipment and rocks from the moon ? Objects of similar renown are the Mona
saints' relics, treasures of gold or dinosaur Lisa, Egyptian mummies,
skeletons. They seem to have a potential to evoke a variety of feelings of
every kind, pleasant, exciting or blood-curdling memories, mingled with ideas
about national pride and achievement. This potential of objects is best
illustrated by the heated debate which arose in 1995 at the occasion of the
150th anniversary of the Smithsonian Institution when the Air and Space
Museum attempted to exhibit the B-52 bomber Enola Gay, which dropped the
first atomic bomb (Zolberg 1996 ; Kurin 1997). Are these qualities inherent
in objects or do they depend on the way of they are presented ?
THE CONCEPT OF AN OBJECT'S SINGULARITY
Walter Benjamin (1974) has written about the potential of an object to
enter people's minds, to create interest and admiration, in terms of the « aura »
which he defined as a « peculiar web of time and space ». In his view, the
here and now of the original object creates its authenticity and singularity as
derived from its being embedded within the context of a tradition. A particular
object is thus made to appear as art, independent of its context and
self-explanatory. Benjamin understood art works as situated historically
between two extremes : their cult value and their exhibition value. Art works
were inalienable because of their singularity. For Benjami