World Art and the Legacies of Colonial Violence .

social control, such as the atheist institutions of Soviet Russia (p. 82), and those with a particular religious agenda such as Creationist museums (p. 88), as well as the shifting conceptions of religion in science museums (p. 76). Another major focus is how visitors engage, disengage, or reject religious objects. Despite the context or content of a specific display, many visitors are unable or unwilling to change their pre-existing conceptions of a particular culture (p. 25). How does that impact their museum experience? Through a variety of means, an institution might wittingly or unwittingly promote a particular philosophy or theory, be it through exhibition curation, display design, or interpretive techniques, each of which impact a museum visitor’s experience of the space and understanding of the material. Overall, displays still rely most heavily on guided tours and object labels (p. 109) for their visitor-education efforts, which are by definition limiting as they are a one-way conduit of curated information. Another approach to providing context has been in-gallery cultural performances, phenomena that Paine notes are predominantly non-Christian: reconstructing Hindu shrines, Buddhist altars, and meditation spaces, among others (p. 39). Paine points out that regardless of an institution’s intent, there have been some aggressive—and occasionally violent— attacks directed toward objects, exhibitions, and institutions by individuals unable to reconcile their personal conceptions with a conflicting presentation (p. 90). Religious Objects in Museums provides a survey of techniques and approaches—successful and otherwise—with the stated aim that institutions acknowledge and address the effects of an increasingly interconnected world, given that groups with radically different orientations and, often, conflicting perspectives are encountering each other in museum spaces and over religious objects, which can cause effects and fallout in the real world (p. 114). Museums serve as interlocutors for and educators about the world’s cultural diversity and provide the venue in which differing ideas, orientations, peoples, and practices ought to be brought together and presented in an educational context, with the goal of empathy and understanding different perspectives (p. 114). Although at times the volume provides only brief treatment of a concept, it offers much fodder for deeper discussions and potentially rich avenues for future research. The comprehensive bibliography offers abundant resources for additional study. Overall, the volume is highly readable and desirable for museum professionals, museum studies students, and those interested in exploring new ways to consider questions of identity, display, and stewardship.