Tutor
Dr. Max Carocci
Start date
October 23rd 2024, 18.00- 19.30 UK time (please keep in mind BST and that the clocks change in the UK at the end of October)
Type
8 x 1. 5 hour classes
Price: £245
This course is open to anyone interested in the connections between anthropology, museums and curating. Museum professionals, volunteers, gallery consultants, anthropology and art students will find this course particular stimulating.
If you are already an enrolled student, you can access our Moodle platform here:
The course looks at the relationship between Anthropology and Museums from the point of view of curatorial practice. Introducing central concepts and principles central to the history of Anthropology’s involvement in museums, we examine the changing faces of these historical relationships, from taxonomical displays, to the departure from natural history’s narratives, from the centrality of anthropologists as curators, to the increasingly central role played by source and Indigenous communities in curatorial projects and exhibitions.
Tutor biography
Dr. Max Carocci is Adjunct Professor of Art History and Visual Culture at the Richmond American University in London. For more than twenty years he has been teaching anthropology, art, visual and material culture in a variety of universities across the UK (Birkbeck College, Goldsmiths College, Chelsea College of Art, UCL, University of East Anglia). In addition to his academic career, he has served as curator at the British Museum, the Weltkulturen Museum Frankfurt, the Venice Biennale, and several institutions (including the RAI), and galleries in Britain and abroad. Max has published widely on a variety of subjects at the intersection of Anthropology and Art. Among his latest publications, Art, Observation, and an Anthropology of Illustration(co-edited with Stephanie Pratt, Bloomsbury, 2022), andArt, Shamanism and Animism(co-edited with Robert J. Wallis, MDPI: Basel, 2022).
Course objective & structure
We will examine the challenges presented by past and present case studies to build critical skills, and practical approaches to curating world art collections, archaeological material, ethnographic and folk objects, as well as contemporary arts from places usually associated with areas of anthropological remit. What is more, the course will offer an anthropological perspective on museums as sites of cultural encounter, mediation, and creation in the contemporary world.
Over the course of eight sessions, we will touch upon central issues in current museum practice from ethical issues in displays and cultural sensitivity, to religious pluralism and social inclusion, from community engagement and relationships with source communities, to fieldwork collecting, and collaborative methodologies, as well as the role of intangible heritage and performance in museums, among others.
A practical component complements the contextual elements of the programme, which is aimed at developing a set of guidelines for good practice in museums regardless of their character and nature.
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Discuss current museum issues and theories related to anthropology and curating
- Explain general curatorial principles and practices
- Entertain an independent assessment of museum techniques
- Use critical skills in museum ethnography and anthropology
- Compare and contrast Art Historical, Folk Art, World Cultures, Archaeological, and Ethnographic Museums
Summary of Seminar topics
- Week 1: Anthropology, Art, and Museums
- Week 2: Curating Anthropology
- Week 3: Objects and Images: Collecting, Cataloguing, and Displaying
- Week 4: Exhibition Techniques
- Week 5: Class Report/Review of Museum/Virtual Visit
- Week 6: Audiences and Interpretation
- Week 7: Ethical Issues in Museology
- Week 8: What Does an Exhibition Entail?
Further information about classes
Topic 1. Anthropology, Art, and Museums
Anthropology and museums have a long history that intertwines with local developments of the discipline. These different stories have resulted in a variety of approaches to collections that variably defined the role of the anthropologist in the museum, and constructed a multiplicity of museum typologies (e.g., ethnographic museums, folk art museums, world cultures museums, museums of archaeology, popular arts, and ethnology museums etc.). Here we outline some of the most salient differences between museums anthropologies in time and space to have a general overview of the field of inquiry entertained in this course.
Topic 2. Curating Anthropology
Purposes and types of exhibitions are diverse: educational, political, artistic. The presentation of collections to the public in museums is directly linked to the history of curating. In this session the history of display typologies is put in conversation with museum aims and character to reveal different priorities and curatorial strategies aimed at capturing a variety of audiences.
Topic 3. Objects and Images: Collecting, Cataloguing, and Displaying
Topic 4. Exhibition Techniques
Topic 5. Class Report/Review of Museum/Virtual Visit.
This week will host student presentations on the visit discussed in the previous week. It should include: analysis of content delivery, interpretation, and complementary material. It should also examine the use of space, objects lighting, forms of display, exhibition rationale, traffic flow, labelling, complementary material (e.g.; audiovisuals, interactive gadgets, three-D imaging etc.), interpretation, and educational programmes from selected case studies.
Topic 6. Audiences and Interpretation:
Who is the exhibition for? How do we engage different publics? How do museums come up with educational programmes, and all the components that complement them? This lesson is dedicated to activities central to museums’ education programmes, from workshops (hands-on), talks and conferences, to roundtables, guided tours, and performances.
Topic 7. Ethical Issues in Museology
The increasingly more vocal criticisms moved against the politics of representation has encouraged museum practitioners and anthropologists to re-evaluate their ethical guidelines and principles. Here we look at the relationships with source communities, the delicate issue of displaying religious objects, how to deal with challenging collections (e.g., slavery, torture, inter-religious relations, restricted or secret material, etc.), and issues of repatriation of cultural property and human remains. In this session you are invited to think about an idea for an exhibition for a known museum of which you can find a map. This will be discussed in the next session.
Topic 8. What Does an Exhibition Entail?
How does one plan an exhibition? We will discuss the process and ways of thinking about an exhibition, from planning stages to design, mounting, interpreting, and marketing. Many elements contribute to the success of an exhibition. In this session, we shall evaluate some of the students’ ideas as point of departure for broader considerations about an exhibition’s objectives, target audiences, content and design.
