“Museums as Realms of (dis)Enchantment,” Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture, Dialogues section, Special eds. Tatiana Flores and Harper Montgomery, Vol. 2, No. 2, April 2020, 79-82. https://online.ucpress.edu/lalvc/issue/2/2 (original) (raw)
Related papers
The power of museums with ethnographic collections: two cases in Brazil
International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology Springer, 2024
The Power of Museums" was the General Conference on the central theme of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in 2022 (Prague). This article aims to discuss the ability of ethnographic collections to combat prejudice and promote freedom, cultural diversity, religious diversity, and democracy, among other aspects of human rights. Here, we propose a theoretical reflection on the power of museums, considering the context of the decolonization of ethnographic collections in Brazil. To illustrate the discussion, we briefly present two recent cases in the country that refer to the appreciation of indigenous, religious, and cultural diversity. The first is related to a photographic collection of indigenous peoples that is part of the Museu Paranaense (MUPA) collection in Curitiba (southern Brazil). The second case involves collections from a group of people who descend from enslaved people and members of Terreiros de Umbanda and Candomblé in the city of Rio de Janeiro (southeastern region), which is now preserved at the Museu da Republica. For this purpose, we present a brief context on the historical development of Brazil, its contemporary museum universe, and Associação Brasileira de Antropologia's initiative to map ethnographic collections in Brazil. Both cases reveal experiences of decolonizing ethnographic collections with the direct involvement of the associated communities. These cases demonstrate how it is possible to deconstruct collections This article was previously presented during the Annual Meeting of the International Committee for Museums of Ethnography (ICME), an international committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-UNESCO) on November 22nd-23rd, 2022.
"The Death of Brazil’s National Museum"
American Historical Review, 2019
a Facebook friend made an alarming post. From the window of her apartment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she could see the National Museum (Museu Nacional) on fire. Other posts followed, depicting the catastrophe in progress. A few hours later, the reports left no doubt: the museum had been destroyed. As I watched the news about the fire, all I could think about was the priceless Africana artifacts housed at the museum, which I had the opportunity to study almost a decade ago. The collection reflected the role of Africa in shaping the country's history: Brazil imported the largest number of enslaved Africans during the era of the Atlantic slave trade (nearly 5 million) and did not abolish slavery until 1888, making it the last nation in the Americas to do so. 1 Today, it has the largest black population outside the African continent.
Latin American Antiquity, 2020
In this article, I take a close look at the objects collected over the last 200 years from the indigenous people of the Upper Rio Negro, northwest of the Brazilian Amazon, that were part of the ethnographic collection of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro. Examination of these objects allows us to explore the main characteristics of the ethnographic archive of the museum, as the Upper Rio Negro collections were connected to different topics associated with indigenous societies and histories in Brazil, including enslavement, forced displacement, religious conversion, and indigenous territorial, artifactual, and cultural knowledge. This article also highlights the professional commitment of Brazilian anthropology to amplifying indigenous voices over the course of the history of the discipline, and by doing so, it pays homage to the women and men whose work built the National Museum collections. Este trabajo discute las principales características de las colecciones etnográficas del Museo Nacional de Río de Janeiro a través de los objetos recuperados durante los últimos 200 años entre los indígenas del Alto Río Negro (URN), quienes habitan en el noroeste de la Amazonia brasileña. Como un ejemplo que permite abordar las principales características del acervo etnográfico del Museo, estas colecciones están vinculadas a diferentes temas que abordan las historias y las sociedades indígenas de Brasil tales como la esclavitud, el desplazamiento forzado, la conversión religiosa y el conocimiento ecológico nativo. Durante la presentación de estos temas, el texto destaca el compromiso profesional de la Antropología Brasileña con la diseminación de las voces indígenas a lo largo de su historia. Al hacerlo, rindo homenaje a las mujeres y hombres cuyo trabajo ha constituido el Museo Nacional.
INDIANA, 2020
Abstract: The destruction of the collections at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, which had hosted indigenous material culture gathered over two centuries, spotlighted the importance of early Amazonian collections in European museums. The circulation of objects and knowledge in the 19th and the early 20th century is part of a history of interactions within global systems. Epistemological, political, social and economic aspects shaped the collections, following shifting interests related to scientific endeavors, colonization or extractivism, just to name the more common ones. The agents involved in the collecting in the South American Lowlands were scholars from different disciplines, settlers, politicians and traders linked by global interests. The close relationship of the then Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin and the Göteborgs Museum in Gothenburg with the Museu Nacional and other Brazilian institutions since the 1880s is striking, as they mutually engaged in the exchange of objects for major exhibitions and enriched the scientific exchange of knowledge, by sending and interchanging collections. Today, these objects stored in Berlin as well as in Gothenburg, could be incorporated into the reconstruction of the Museu Nacional, or directly could be put in dialogue with communities in the 21st century. ese collections were gathered with many purposes; however, from the beginning in Berlin with Adolf Bastian, and in Gothenburg with Erland Nordenskiöld, the idea of an archive for the future was a primal one. The question remains, how to handle this ‘universal archive’ at risk?
Saving the present in Brazil: Perspectives from collaborations with indigenous museums
This paper explores some of the challenges and benefits involved in the collaboration between the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of the University of São Paulo, the India Vanuire Historical and Pedagogical Museum, and the Kaingang people of Vanuire, as well as some of the outcomes of these partnerships, such as the creation of the Kaingang Wowkriwig Museum. These experiences showed that working in collaboration with indigenous groups can be mutually beneficial and rewarding. The benefits include opportunities to empower the Kaingang to create and manage their own museums, and to exchange more effective preservation strategies , information about manufacturing technologies , as well as the original use and significance of objects. Moreover, the significance of objects whose value had diminished was revived by the new perspectives brought about by these inclusive approaches. The paper concludes that many other museums can act as agents of these processes but a prerequisite is a reconsideration of their relationships with indigenous groups and how the past can be redressed.
The Connectedness of Archives: Museums in Brazil and Europe
2020
The destruction of the collections at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, which had hosted indigenous material culture gathered over two centuries, spotlighted the importance of early Amazonian collections in European museums. The circulation of objects and knowledge in the 19th and the early 20th century is part of a history of interactions within global systems. Epistemological, political, social and economic aspects shaped the collections, following shifting interests related to scientific endeavors, colonization or extractivism, just to name the more common ones. The agents involved in the collecting in the South American Lowlands were scholars from different disciplines, settlers, politicians and traders linked by global interests. The close relationship of the then Museum fur Volkerkunde in Berlin and the Goteborgs Museum in Gothenburg with the Museu Nacional and other Brazilian institutions since the 1880s is striking, as they mutually engaged in the exchange of objects for...
The Connectenedness of Archives: Museums in Brazil and Europe
2020
The destruction of the collections at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, which had hosted indigenous material culture gathered over two centuries, spotlighted the importance of early Amazonian collections in European museums. The circulation of objects and knowledge in the 19th and the early 20th century is part of a history of interactions within global systems. Epistemological, political, social and economic aspects shaped the collections, following shifting interests related to scientific endeavors, colonization or extractivism, just to name the more common ones. The agents involved in the collecting in the South American Lowlands were scholars from different disciplines, settlers, politicians and traders linked by global interests. The close relationship of the then Museum fur Volkerkunde in Berlin and the Goteborgs Museum in Gothenburg with the Museu Nacional and other Brazilian institutions since the 1880s is striking, as they mutually engaged in the exchange of objects for...
Indiana, 2020
The destruction of the collections at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, which had hosted indigenous material culture gathered over two centuries, spotlighted the importance of early Amazonian collections in European museums. The circulation of objects and knowledge in the 19 th and the early 20 th century is part of a history of interactions within global systems. Epistemological, political, social and economic aspects shaped the collections , following shifting interests related to scientific endeavors, colonization or extractivism, just to name the more common ones. The agents involved in the collecting in the South American Lowlands were scholars from different disciplines, settlers, politicians and traders linked by global interests. The close relationship of the then Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin and the Göteborgs Museum in Gothenburg with the Museu Nacional and other Brazilian institutions since the 1880s is striking, as they mutually engaged in the exchange of objects for major exhibitions and enriched the scientific exchange of knowledge, by sending and interchanging collections. Today, these objects stored in Berlin as well as in Gothenburg, could be incorporated into the reconstruction of the Museu Nacional, or directly could be put in dialogue with communities in the 21 st century. These collections were gathered with many purposes; however, from the beginning in Berlin with Adolf Bastian, and in Gothen-burg with Erland Nordenskiöld, the idea of an archive for the future was a primal one. The question remains, how to handle this 'universal archive' at risk? Resumo: A destruição das coleções do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, que abrigava cultura material indígena reunida ao longo de dois séculos, destacou a importância das anti-gas coleções amazônicas nos museus europeus. A circulação de objetos e conhecimento no século XIX e no início do século XX faz parte de uma história de interações dentro de siste-mas globais. Aspectos epistemológicos, políticos, sociais e econômicos moldaram as coleções, acompanhando as mudanças de interesses relacionados aos empreendimentos científicos, colonização ou extrativismo, apenas para citar os mais comuns. Os agentes envolvidos no colecionismo nas Terras Baixas Sul-Americanas eram acadêmicos de diferentes disciplinas, colonos, políticos e comerciantes conectados por interesses globais. A estreita relação do