Colonialism and the Object: Empire, Material Culture, and the Museum

Front Cover
T. J. Barringer, Tom Flynn
Psychology Press, 1998 - Art - 224 pages

Drawing together an international group of scholars from a variety of disciplinary and cultural backgrounds, Colonialism and the Object explores the impact of colonial contact with other cultures on the material culture of both the colonized and the imperial nation.

The book includes intensive case-studies of objects from India, Pakistan, New Zealand, China and Africa, all of which were collected by, or exhibited in, the institutions of the British Empire, and key chapters address issues of radical identity across cultural barriers, and the hybird styles of objects which can emerge when cultures meet.

Colonialism and the Object is essential reading for all those interested in post-colonial theory, museum studies, material culture and design history.

From inside the book

Contents

The South Kensington Museum and the colonial project
11
Chinese material culture and British perceptions of China in
28
The imperial collections
41
A mustice silversmith
82
Central Asians in Soviet decorative art
95
The new transcultural collections
111
a Maori meeting house
129
Maori vision and the imperialist gaze
144
Missionary collections
153
Herbert Langs Congo
167
The revival of chryselephantine sculpture
188
Bibliography
205
Index
217
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Bibliographic information