Between Ethnology and Cultural History
While a few larger collections of objects of East Asian origin entered Slovenian museums after the deaths of their owners in the 1950s and 60s, individual items had begun finding their way there as early as the nineteenth century. Museums were faced early on with the problem not only of how to stor...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
2021-09-01
|
| Series: | Asian Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/9808 |
| _version_ | 1797949991536295936 |
|---|---|
| author | Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik |
| author_facet | Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik |
| author_sort | Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While a few larger collections of objects of East Asian origin entered Slovenian museums after the deaths of their owners in the 1950s and 60s, individual items had begun finding their way there as early as the nineteenth century. Museums were faced early on with the problem not only of how to store and exhibit the objects, but also how to categorize them. Were they to be treated as “art” on account of their aesthetic value or did they belong, rather, to the field of “ethnography” or “anthropology” because they could illustrate the way of life of other peoples? Above all, in which museums were these objects to be housed?
The present paper offers an in-depth analysis of these and related questions, seeking to shed light on how East Asian objects have been showcased in Slovenia (with a focus on the National Museum and the Slovene Ethnographic Museum) over the past two hundred years. In particular, it explores the values and criteria that were applied when placing these objects into individual categories. In contrast to the conceptual shift from “ethnology” to the “decorative and fine arts,” which can mostly be observed in the categorization of East Asian objects in North America and the former European colonial countries, the classification of such objects in Slovenia varied between “ethnology” and “cultural history,” with ethnology ultimately coming out on top. This ties in with the more general question of how (East) Asian cultures were understood and perceived in Slovenia, which is itself related to the historical and social development of the “peripheral” Slovenian area compared with former major imperial centres.
|
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:09:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d839a7abff7245819e0c523243d3d2c2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2232-5131 2350-4226 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T22:09:14Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Asian Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-d839a7abff7245819e0c523243d3d2c22023-01-18T09:00:57ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Asian Studies2232-51312350-42262021-09-019310.4312/as.2021.9.3.85-116Between Ethnology and Cultural HistoryNataša Vampelj Suhadolnik0University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, SloveniaWhile a few larger collections of objects of East Asian origin entered Slovenian museums after the deaths of their owners in the 1950s and 60s, individual items had begun finding their way there as early as the nineteenth century. Museums were faced early on with the problem not only of how to store and exhibit the objects, but also how to categorize them. Were they to be treated as “art” on account of their aesthetic value or did they belong, rather, to the field of “ethnography” or “anthropology” because they could illustrate the way of life of other peoples? Above all, in which museums were these objects to be housed? The present paper offers an in-depth analysis of these and related questions, seeking to shed light on how East Asian objects have been showcased in Slovenia (with a focus on the National Museum and the Slovene Ethnographic Museum) over the past two hundred years. In particular, it explores the values and criteria that were applied when placing these objects into individual categories. In contrast to the conceptual shift from “ethnology” to the “decorative and fine arts,” which can mostly be observed in the categorization of East Asian objects in North America and the former European colonial countries, the classification of such objects in Slovenia varied between “ethnology” and “cultural history,” with ethnology ultimately coming out on top. This ties in with the more general question of how (East) Asian cultures were understood and perceived in Slovenia, which is itself related to the historical and social development of the “peripheral” Slovenian area compared with former major imperial centres. https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/9808National Museum of SloveniaSlovene Ethnographic MuseumEast Asian objectsmuseum classificationethnologycultural history |
| spellingShingle | Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik Between Ethnology and Cultural History Asian Studies National Museum of Slovenia Slovene Ethnographic Museum East Asian objects museum classification ethnology cultural history |
| title | Between Ethnology and Cultural History |
| title_full | Between Ethnology and Cultural History |
| title_fullStr | Between Ethnology and Cultural History |
| title_full_unstemmed | Between Ethnology and Cultural History |
| title_short | Between Ethnology and Cultural History |
| title_sort | between ethnology and cultural history |
| topic | National Museum of Slovenia Slovene Ethnographic Museum East Asian objects museum classification ethnology cultural history |
| url | https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/9808 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT natasavampeljsuhadolnik betweenethnologyandculturalhistory |