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Knowledge and Artifacts: People and Objects
Author(s) -
Svensson Tom G.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
museum anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.197
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1548-1379
pISSN - 0892-8339
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1379.2008.00012.x
Subject(s) - object (grammar) , argument (complex analysis) , traditional knowledge , narrative , focus (optics) , ethnography , frame (networking) , indigenous , body of knowledge , point (geometry) , sociology , obligation , identity (music) , epistemology , history , computer science , anthropology , aesthetics , knowledge management , linguistics , art , artificial intelligence , law , political science , philosophy , mathematics , ecology , chemistry , optics , biology , telecommunications , biochemistry , geometry , physics
In the study of material culture, the connection between artifacts and knowledge is discernible. The knowledge derives primarily from people, the indigenous voice. To elucidate the inter‐relationship between knowledge and objects, a narrative approach will be emphasized. The main argument relates to the connection of oral history, material culture, and ethnographic museums. My empirical frame of reference is the Sámi culture in Northern Fennoscandia and its basketry tradition, and the general focus will emphasize adequate knowledge‐generating processes. One single object, a so‐called mini kisa , collected in 2003, will be used as a case in point. The body of knowledge discussed contains both tangible and intangible heritage, thereby making the object speak for culture. And, in my view, museums have an obligation to master these demands.