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Catching Shadows: The Exhibition of Intangible Heritage of Oceania in Lisa Reihana’s in Pursuit of Venus [infected]


Type

Thesis

Change log

Authors

Daly, Leanne Margaret 

Abstract

Since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003 and the increased prevalence of decolonizing objectives in museums, curators have been faced with the challenge of how to exhibit intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Existing literature on ICH in museums is sparse and that which relates to exhibition technologies like film often focuses on audience effect rather than on content and context of the media or motivations/intentions of curators in their use. This research explores how curators utilize film to exhibit ICH in museums through the case study of Lisa Reihana’s in Pursuit of Venus [infected] (iPOVi). By tracking the creation and exhibition of iPOVi, especially through interviewing various curators of the artwork, it is clear that curators privilege film’s ability to represent complex aspects of culture, like ICH, and utilize the medium to engage with the decolonizing objectives of museums. It is ultimately how ICH characterizes every facet of iPOVi (the medium, content, and filmmaking and exhibition contexts) that allows it to bridge gaps in discourse surrounding material culture and ICH and exposes the potential for filmmaking to become a heritage process.

Description

Date

2019-08-30

Advisors

Joy, Jody

Keywords

intangible heritage, decolonization, material culture, filmmaking, colonialism, Lisa Reihana, James Cook, heritage, museums, curation, digital heritage, new media, remediation, digital techology, contemporary art, Pacific art, Oceanic art, Oceania, Maori art, Indigenous art, Indigenous peoples, taonga, wallpaper, encounter, entangled objects, object biographies, virtual taonga, digital taonga, panorama, contact zone, offerings

Qualification

Master of Philosophy (MPhil)

Awarding Institution

University of Cambridge