At 12:04 AM 10/11/03 -0400, you wrote:
>Date:    Fri, 10 Oct 2003 16:03:00 +0000
>From:    Sarah moss <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Sacred artefacts in museums
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
>
>Dear all,
>
>I am looking at different ways of dealing with sacred artefacts in the
>museum context. Does anyone have any good examples, ideas for reading that
>might have some interesting case studies?
>
>I am keen to look at recent examples of maintaining the sacred aspect of the
>object in the museum - either on display or in a kind of keeping place.
>
>Happy to hear about positive and problematic examples....
>
>All the best.
>
>Sarah

2 examples from our place:

When we had an exhibit of Russian icons, our conservator (who also designed
the exhibit) made a kneeler that went in front of the focal point (icon of
Mary & Jesus) of the exhibit. I thought that was a great idea.

The next is a bit more problematic:
We have a Native American headdress on display -- on loan to us from a
smaller institution -- and we instruct visitor that there are no
photographs of it allowed. We get the "why?" And the stock response handed
down from on high is because of Federal law recognizing the religious
wishes of the Native Americans (because it's a religious/ceremonial
artefact, etc.). That usually puts things to rest. The headdress is Sioux.
I had some Navajo visitors come through and when I told them no photography
of the headdress, they asked, well, what if *we* want to photograph it?
Talk about awkward moments! I replied, that's entirely up to you.


---Amy

------------------------------
Look, I have ONE job on this lousy ship. It's STUPID, but I'm gonna do it,
OKAY?
- Gwen DeMarco in _Galaxy Quest_

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).