38 Questions
What is the main criterion for an object to be considered part of a collection according to Walter Nelson Durost?
Its representational value
What is the primary function of a museum?
To care for and exhibit a collection of artifacts
How does the text define a collection?
Objects valued for their representational importance
What role did museums play in the emergence of the modern system of arts according to the text?
They organized objects into hierarchically structured categories
In what century did the museum as an institution emerge?
18th century
What distinguishes a collection from individual objects based on the reading by James Clifford?
The representational value of the objects
What term did the museum actually come from?
Old Greek
Which cultural practice involved burying the deceased person with objects considered valuable for the afterlife?
Egypt
What was housed in the mouseion in Ancient Greece?
Artifacts honoring the goddess of Arts and Sciences
What concept was exemplified by the cabinet of curiosities kept by European elites in the 16th and 17th centuries?
Permeable boundaries between nature and artifact
What was a common feature of pre-modern and non-Western worldviews regarding human-made versus natural products?
Permeable boundaries between human-made and natural products
What role do personal and institutional collections play in preserving personal memories?
They help preserve and organize personal memories
What aspect contributed to the showcasing of wealth and power by European nobles through their collections?
Showing valuable objects from distant lands
Which collection activity helps in forming and preserving identities according to the text?
Collecting things
What did children's collections as adults help in forming and preserving?
Memories
What does forming and preserving identities through collecting things reflect according to the text?
The role of objects in shaping people's lives
What is the main difference in how objects were perceived based on their creators?
Objects made by white men were seen as having intrinsic aesthetic value, while those made by others were valued for their scientific significance.
Why were objects made by so-called 'others' often placed in ethnographic museums?
Because they represented the culture that produced them rather than having intrinsic aesthetic value.
In what way did the Tokyo National Museum categorize the objects from colonized territories in the Meiji period?
As part of their ethnological materials category, separate from traditional art media.
What was one of the main goals of the Tokyo National Museum and similar institutions established in the late 19th century?
To construct and express a sense of national identity.
How did Meiji Japan's policies affect regional differences and cultural practices?
They led to the erosion of regional differences and the prohibition of certain practices seen as primitive.
Why did Japan try to assert itself as a modern nation to the West during the Meiji period?
To unify all people under one centralized government.
What did the emergence of Japan as a modern nation-state lead to in terms of identity?
The assimilation of ethnic minorities into a unified Japanese identity.
Which term best describes the objects from colonized territories in the context of Meiji Japan?
Ethnological materials representing 'Others'.
What historical factor enabled the gathering of large amounts of objects for Western museums?
Colonial domination and oppression
How were museums in the modern era linked to the construction of the modern nation-state?
By shaping a sense of national culture
What role did museum exhibits play in relation to groups seen as 'Others' in Western societies?
They legitimized dominance over 'Others'
How do museums confer authority to certain histories and objects over others in the present?
By endorsing the status quo
How are objects from other cultures recontextualized in Western museums?
By overriding their specific histories with a coherent order
What criteria are used to distinguish between different types of cultural or artistic products according to the text?
Historicity & temporality
What is one way in which personal and collective identities are formed?
By selecting specific objects to represent oneself or the group
Why did Europeans collect objects from others during colonial expansion?
To exhibit them in museums and cabinets of curiosities
What was the relationship between racial categories and the classification of natural and human-made objects?
Racial categories influenced the classification of objects
How did non-Western objects play a role in shaping collective identity?
By being studied and categorized based on racial hierarchies
What is one factor that contributed to the separation of objects made by humans and nature?
Racial categories and hierarchies
Why were objects made by non-Western peoples considered belonging to the realm of nature?
To justify their classification as primitive societies
What concept emerged alongside the birth of the museum?
Nation-state
How did the creation of national identity involve symbolic borders?
By emphasizing shared origin and continuity through objects and rituals
Explore the significance of categorizing objects and the emergence of museums in the mid-18th century. Learn about the role of museums in caring for and displaying artifacts, art pieces, and objects of historical and cultural importance.
Make Your Own Quizzes and Flashcards
Convert your notes into interactive study material.
Get started for free
