The Canary Museum: from transnational trade of human remains to the visual representations of race (1879-1900)

“El Museo Canario” (Canary Museum) was founded in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1879. It holds an impressive collection of the pre-Hispanic past of the Canaries. El Museo Canario built an important transnational network of exchange. This was facilitated by the widespread interest in the human remai...

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Main Authors: Álvaro Girón Sierra, María José Betancor Gómez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas 2023-05-01
Series:Culture & History Digital Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cultureandhistory.revistas.csic.es/index.php/cultureandhistory/article/view/266
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author Álvaro Girón Sierra
María José Betancor Gómez
author_facet Álvaro Girón Sierra
María José Betancor Gómez
author_sort Álvaro Girón Sierra
collection DOAJ
description “El Museo Canario” (Canary Museum) was founded in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1879. It holds an impressive collection of the pre-Hispanic past of the Canaries. El Museo Canario built an important transnational network of exchange. This was facilitated by the widespread interest in the human remains of the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the Canaries. His founder Gregorio Chil, and the Museum Board, were interested in building a regional race to represent the trans-historical essence of the archipelago’s population. This was scientifically grounded on different racial classification projects with colonial connotations. Speculation on the possible links between the archipelago’s extinct race, the Amazigh (Berbers), and hypothetical primitive European populations became popular. These debates had a material side: racial similarities and differences were exhibited, visualized, illustrated, and thus demonstrated. Lithographs of human remains circulated in Europe and beyond. These supposedly objective representations of race were published in authoritative books and scientific articles. In addition, individuals were drawn and photographed, often with the idea of showing the continuity between the aboriginal population and the current inhabitants of the archipelago. Visual representations of the dead (skulls, mummies) entered a sort of dialectic relationship with representations of the living.
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spelling doaj.art-47f2d47e2cb24b5a9954a320ac72233d2023-05-11T09:18:17ZengConsejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasCulture & History Digital Journal2253-797X2023-05-0112110.3989/chdj.2023.006The Canary Museum: from transnational trade of human remains to the visual representations of race (1879-1900)Álvaro Girón Sierra0María José Betancor Gómez1Institución Milá y Fontanals de Investigación en Humanidades-CSICUniversidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria “El Museo Canario” (Canary Museum) was founded in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1879. It holds an impressive collection of the pre-Hispanic past of the Canaries. El Museo Canario built an important transnational network of exchange. This was facilitated by the widespread interest in the human remains of the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the Canaries. His founder Gregorio Chil, and the Museum Board, were interested in building a regional race to represent the trans-historical essence of the archipelago’s population. This was scientifically grounded on different racial classification projects with colonial connotations. Speculation on the possible links between the archipelago’s extinct race, the Amazigh (Berbers), and hypothetical primitive European populations became popular. These debates had a material side: racial similarities and differences were exhibited, visualized, illustrated, and thus demonstrated. Lithographs of human remains circulated in Europe and beyond. These supposedly objective representations of race were published in authoritative books and scientific articles. In addition, individuals were drawn and photographed, often with the idea of showing the continuity between the aboriginal population and the current inhabitants of the archipelago. Visual representations of the dead (skulls, mummies) entered a sort of dialectic relationship with representations of the living. https://cultureandhistory.revistas.csic.es/index.php/cultureandhistory/article/view/266MuseumsRaceHuman remainsExhibitionRepresentationNation-building
spellingShingle Álvaro Girón Sierra
María José Betancor Gómez
The Canary Museum: from transnational trade of human remains to the visual representations of race (1879-1900)
Culture & History Digital Journal
Museums
Race
Human remains
Exhibition
Representation
Nation-building
title The Canary Museum: from transnational trade of human remains to the visual representations of race (1879-1900)
title_full The Canary Museum: from transnational trade of human remains to the visual representations of race (1879-1900)
title_fullStr The Canary Museum: from transnational trade of human remains to the visual representations of race (1879-1900)
title_full_unstemmed The Canary Museum: from transnational trade of human remains to the visual representations of race (1879-1900)
title_short The Canary Museum: from transnational trade of human remains to the visual representations of race (1879-1900)
title_sort canary museum from transnational trade of human remains to the visual representations of race 1879 1900
topic Museums
Race
Human remains
Exhibition
Representation
Nation-building
url https://cultureandhistory.revistas.csic.es/index.php/cultureandhistory/article/view/266
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