The ethnographic collection is openly influenced by the external socio-political principles that shape attitudes towards the presentation of different cultures. The foremost change came following the move towards political independence of colonised countries, as the desire to represent personal national identity through objects and the theory of post-colonialism flourished. Previously, imperial rule was legitimised through anthropological hypotheses and illustrated in ethnographic museums, so the ethnocentrism of the museums existed in direct opposition to this new shift in the balance of power. Post-colonial breakdown of cultural structures challenged the domination of Western perceptions and established a collection of ethics and values that promoted a more equitable system of societal representation.
Moreover, the traditional ethnography museum was challenged by the post-colonial desire for self-representation and the accompanying realisation that the
collective memory of these events [colonisation] of indigenous peoples and their descendants is vastly different to that of European peoples and their descendants.
Thus, the formerly colonised nations began to establish their own heritage and ethnic legacies for the ‘enrichment, education and collective identity of the citizenry’, with the creation of a national museum part of the ‘criteria of civilisation’.
With respect to these changes in the ideological climate, the ethnographic museum has to operate under the influence of rapidly changing socio-political theories. The museum now has to re-evaluate the particular world-view that it was previously programmed to promote and make attempts to redress the imbalance caused by the endorsement of ‘otherness’ and the portrayal of the colonised peoples privation and hardship as resulting from their own ‘inability, incompetence and sheer laziness’. Consequently, the existence of post-colonialism has created a paradox and raised a variety of key issues that impact upon the ethnographic museum. Their new role to nullify the inequity and undo the damage caused by previous interpretive techniques undermines their own existence.
Hannah Clayton Atkin
