Cracks in the dome : fractured histories of empire in the Zanzibar Museum, 1897-1964 / Sarah Longair.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Longair, Sarah, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Peace Memorial Museum (Zanzibar)--History.

Peace Memorial Museum (Zanzibar).

Historical museums--Tanzania--Zanzibar--History.

Historical museums.

Historic buildings--Tanzania--Zanzibar.

Historic buildings.

Collectors and collecting--Tanzania--Zanzibar.

Collectors and collecting.

History.

Zanzibar--History--1890-1964.

Zanzibar.

Tanzania--Zanzibar.

Physical Description:

xvi, 322 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Farnham, Surrey : Ashgate Publishing Limited, [2015]

Summary:

As one of the most monumental and recognisable landmarks from Zanzibar’s years as a British Protectorate, the distinctive domed building of distinctive domed building of the Zanzibar Museum (also known as the Beit al-Amani or Peace Memorial Museum) is widely known and familiar to Zanzibaris and visitors alike. Yet the complicated and compelling history behind its construction and collection has been overlooked by historians until now. Drawing on a rich and wide range of hitherto unexplored archival, photographic, architectural and material evidence, this book is the first serious investigation of this remarkable institution. Although the museum was not opened until 1925, this book traces the longer history of colonial display which culminated in the establishment of the Zanzibar Museum. It reveals the complexity of colonial knowledge production in the changing political context of the twentieth century British Empire and explores the broad spectrum of people from diverse communities who shaped its existence as staff, informants, collectors and teachers. Through vivid narratives involving people, objects and exhibits, this book exposes the fractures, contradictions and tensions in creating and maintaining a colonial museum, and casts light on the conflicted character of the ‘colonial mission’ in eastern Africa.

Contents:

Introduction: Zanzibar, museums and the British empire

Museum precedents : British imperial culture, collecting and display in Zanzibar: 1897-1922

"Muskiti ya Bwana Sinclair" : building the Peace Memorial Museum, 1919-1925

"The same breed of museum worker" : curators, collaborators and the museum community, 1925-1942

Trusteeship of culture : acquisition and display of the museum's collection, 1925-1942

Explaining the "puzzling new world" : education and reaching out beyond the museum, 1925-1942

The museum and "the unhappy archives" : preserving Zanzibar's past in the era of decolonisation, 1942-1964.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-311) and index.

ISBN:

9781472437877

147243787X

OCLC:

913853133