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PROPERTY AND OWNERSHIP IN VANUATU : The Lengnangulong Sacred Stone from North Ambrym at the Pavillon des Sessions of the Musée du Louvre
Author(s) -
DeBlock Hugo
Publication year - 2017
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/muan.12138
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , repatriation , tourism , sociology , ethnology , property (philosophy) , meaning (existential) , archipelago , cultural property , the republic , history , anthropology , archaeology , cultural heritage , philosophy , theology , epistemology
The Lengnangulong sacred stone from the village of Magam, North Ambrym, which was collected in 1949 and has been exhibited at the Pavillon des Sessions of the Musée du Louvre in Paris since 2000, is at the forefront of discussions among local people in Vanuatu. Their concerns center on issues of meaning and ownership as well as on the value of intellectual and material cultural property. Since 1997, the stone's original owners in Magam have been appealing for its repatriation; they wish to either own it again or at least have a connection to it by being recognized as the proper owners. Based on fieldwork in the archipelago, primarily on Ambrym in 2009–10, I position these discussions within the contemporary context of the ongoing revival of kastom as well as the development of tourism. In addition, I situate them within the specific context of museums in the West and ongoing practices of production and sale in Vanuatu. The complex life history of the Lengnangulong sacred stone is entwined with history as well as contemporary society in Vanuatu. Objects that were collected over time still belong to local communities. I show how local people are active agents in property claims over their contested objects.