The “museum life” of an object: from the estate to the exhibition of an African collection
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2446-7693.2026.v11ip129-155Keywords:
exhibition, collection, Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of USPAbstract
The exhibition “Other Ships: An Afro-Atlantic Collection” (July 24, 2024 – February 16, 2025) is an emblematic case of the new relationship between exhibition and collection, the innovative use of technologies, and the articulation of anti-racist education, religious tolerance, and cultural diversity. This exhibition brought objects from the collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of USP outside its walls and turned the Art Gallery of the FIESP Cultural Center into a space for learning in the present time. Based on provenance research of an African comb, we analyze the musealization of cultural objects of others and the curatorial narrative of the exhibition—particularly its silence regarding the formation of African collections in the post-colonial period and the current debate on restitution.
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