Of Objects and Contexts : Biographies of Ethnographica. In: Journal des africanistes , , tome 69, fascicule 1. Dans le cas des objets ethnographiques, signification et contexte vont de pair. Mais le visiteur a rarement conscience que les expositions sont des constructions.
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 Β« authentic art works Β» 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.
Journal des Africanistes 69 1 : 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. There, the Β« Other Β» was interpreted against the background of the Β« Self Β». The image of Africa was invented, reinvented and defined by scholarly and popular imagination Coombes This fascination with the Β« Other Β» has largely disappeard and ethnographic museums increasingly reflect on their role in contemporary society today. The way a museum pursues this goal depends on its self-definition and aims.
