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CHALLENGING THE DEAD HAND OF THE MUSEUM DISPLAY: The Case of Contemporary G uro ( C ôte d'Ivoire) Masquerades
Author(s) -
Bouttiaux AnneMarie
Publication year - 2012
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.1548-1379.2012.01120.x
Subject(s) - exhibition , cult , dance , context (archaeology) , popular culture , visual arts , art , procession , cote d ivoire , presentation (obstetrics) , history , art history , aesthetics , anthropology , sociology , literature , humanities , archaeology , ancient history , medicine , radiology
This paper explores some of the methodological and theoretical challenges raised by the presentation of masks from the G uro region of the C ôte d'Ivoire ( I vory C oast) in Persona , a 2009 exhibition at the R oyal M useum for C entral A frica in T ervuren, B elgium. Along the I vory C oast, masquerades are popular, but they also take place during important rituals such as campaigns against witchcraft, funeral ceremonies, and propitiatory cult events. Masks are used in dance performances, and these can only be related in a museum context through texts, photographs, music, and videos. Yet in spite of such efforts to communicate the dynamism of living cultures, exhibitions often become a kind of cenotaph, as if these cultures were dead. Museums thus tend to have a “deadening effect” on living cultures, placing them in a timeless and false past. How can we deal with this aspect of the displays, especially when we know that today's masquerades are profoundly influenced by modernity and urban culture?