BOOK OF THE MONTH

01.01.2020 | Book recommendations

Book of the month

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recommended by Regina Sarreiter, research fellow

As book of the month January 2020 we present

Museumsethnologie – Eine Einführung. Theorien – Debatten – Praktiken  von Iris Edenheiser und Larissa Förster (Hrsg.)

Published by Reimer Verlag at the end of September 2019, the anthology is not only a valuable handbook for students of cultural and social anthropology, and related disciplines who are interested in ethnological museums and collections. It also offers all those interested in the subject a long-overdue overview of the theoretical and practical fields of work in the German-speaking museum landscape, and how they are situated in post-colonial practices of curating and conservation.

Very clearly structered according to the various fields of work in the museums (storage, research, archive, restoration, exhibition, mediation, digitisation and management), each essay introduces the respective field by pointing out and discussing theoretical debate and current developments. Every essay is accompanied by one or two short stories about a particular object, which are put into context with the challenges of the individual areas. Finally, each chapter concludes with a “change of perspective” by an international expert, opening up to transnational debates. The authorship is as diverse as the fields of work themselves. In addition to representatives from academic institutions and museums, the anthology also has contributions from artists, independent curators and cultural practitioners.

In this way, the anthology not only responds to the discussions on colonialism, representation and the handling of sensitive collections in the German-speaking context, but also situates current practical and theoretical work in and about ethnological collections in an international debate.

Author: Regina Sarreiter