Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

II. Perspectives
have been examples of progress: in
There
United States, the Association of Art
the
Directors, the main authority for
Museum
museums, instructs its members to work
US
Indigenous groups on display and
with
The Australian Museum in
interpretation.
has been acknowledged for collaborating
Sydney
indigenous communities to improve its
“with
and cultural artefacts are said to contain
Art
knowledge, from the context and
encoded
of their creation. Sometimes the work
culture
artistically inseparable from that context—
is
for example, props and artwork used
consider,
ritualistic performance, such as masks and
in
Hakananai’a (“lost or stolen friend”) is an
Hoa
basalt statue that was taken from
eight-foot
Island in 1868, and has been kept at
Easter
British Museum ever since. In November
the
the governor of Easter Island urged the
2018,
to return it, saying its keepers have
museum
can these masks be comprehended by
extent
foreign audience, without the context of the
a
How much context is enough for the
dance?
or sharing of knowledge to an artwork?
transfer
art forms are more prone to this
Some
than others; film, for example, is
predicament
to be more readily transferable than
perceived
iconography or fine art. It is the sharing
religious
transfer of art across social, cultural or linguistic
or
that generally causes this problem. Even
borders
recent decades, attempts to understand or
in
artwork out of its cultural context,
appreciate
example art that has been geographically
for
temporally displaced, has carried the risk of
or
exoticizing or further othering the
trivializing,
and the subject culture to which it belongs.
object
terms: You have our
Search
Easter Island
soul
Alarcón Rapu, Governor of Easter Island,
Tarita
asked the British Museum to lend the
recently
it is the right time to maybe send us
“And
(the statue) for a while, so our sons
back
see it as I can see it. You have kept him
can
150 years, just give us some months.”
for
British Museum released a statement to
The
that described a “warm, friendly and
CNN
conversation” with the Easter Island
open
adding the following.
delegation,
was very helpful to gain a better
“It
of Hoa Hakananani’a’s
understanding
for the people of Rapa
significance
today … . The museum is keen
Nui
work collaboratively with partners
to
communities across the globe and
and
discussions around future joint
welcomes
with Rapa Nui … . We believe that
projects
is great value in presenting objects
there
across the world, alongside the stories
from
other cultures at the British Museum.
of
museum is one of the world’s leading
The
10
interpretive displays” (Farago 2015).
costumes used in ceremonial dance. To what
Box 10.6: “You have our soul”: Easter Island pleads with British for statue’s return
statue back to Easter Island temporarily.
the “soul” of the Easter Island people.
(Rapu quoted in Holland 2018)
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