Museums, Objects and Collections: A Cultural Study - Couverture souple

Pearce, Susan M.

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0718514424 ISBN 13 : 9780718514426

Editeur : Leicester University Press, 1992

Synopsis

Museums hold the collected objects that have come to us from the past, and which now constitute one of the most important ways in which we can understand that past. Museums are social phenomena characteristic of the modernist Western tradition, and their collections of both human and natural history material are a significant part of how that tradition has shaped itself. This book explores the nature of museums, of their collections and of the objects which form these collections; the psychological and social reasons why people collect; and the nature of relics, fetishes and systematic assemblages. It considers the nature of the curatorial process and the narratives it produces: collections in store, acquisition and disposal, documentary description and exhibition. It discusses how museum objects operate as signs and symbols, as mediators of a functionalist perspective in a world of goods, and as actors in the process of change. It examines the relationship between museums, museum objects and ideology and concludes with an attempt to define the curatorial project.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

This book examines the historical context of museums, their collections, and the objects that form them. Susan M. Pearce probes the psychological and social reasons that people collect and identifies three modes of collecting: collecting as souvenirs, as fetishes, and as systematic assemblages. She considers how museum professionals set policies of collection management; acquire, study, and exhibit objects; and make meaning of the objects in their care. Pearce also explores the ideological relationship between museums and their collections and the intellectual and social relationships of museums to the public.

Revue de presse

“Dense and rewarding. Through this study the author intends to explore the philosophies and cultural traditions which underlie museums, their collections, and the objects which make them up, and to see how meaning is created amongst them.”—Arlis-Newssheet

“Profoundly rewarding . . . [Museums, Objects, and Collections] offers one of the most extensive and penetrating analyses of museums you are likely to find anywhere.”—Curator

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Leicester University Press
• Date d'édition: 1992
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0718514424
• ISBN 13: 9780718514426
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 256
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible