Connecting objects, communities and cultural knowledge

Abstract

Cultural objects carry forward the identity of the past into the future. The process of preservation therefore has strong impact on the transmission of cultural knowledge and the definition of identity. The works of Elman Service, Nicholas Thomas and Marica Pointon have examined concepts of geography, economics and politics to argue how, as custodians of cultural artefacts, cultural institutions can reframe the idea of authority knowledge. Informed by this work, and the broader critique of cultural positions by Arjun Appadurai and others, institutions have sought to enhance knowledge and presentations by engagement with collection-specific expert knowledge holders within communities, and, in..