Open AccessA Hobbling Marriage: On the Relationship Between the Collections and the Societal Mission of the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm
Author(s) -
Anna Källén,
Mikael Jakobsson
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
current swedish archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2002-3901
pISSN - 1102-7355
DOI - 10.37718/csa.2009.10
Subject(s) - institution , teleology , colonialism , narrative , national museum , presentation (obstetrics) , history , cultural institution , sociology , anthropology , environmental ethics , archaeology , political science , art , literature , law , social science , philosophy , medicine , radiology
In the late 19th century, the new Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm was a cutting-edge institution for the presentation of ideas of a universal human development from primitive to modern —ideas that were at the heart of the European colonial project. We argue that the archaeological collections with their unaltered 19th-century structures still represent a narrative that reproduces a colonial understanding of the world, a linear arrangement of essential cultural groups according to a teleological development model. Contrary to this, the contemporary mission of the Museum, inspired by the late 20th-century postcolonial thinking, is directed towards questioning this particular narrative. This problematic relationship is thus present deep within the structure of the Museum of National Antiquities as an institution, and it points to the need for long-term strategic changes to make the collections useful for vital museum activity in accordance with the Museum's mission.