Religion in museums : global and multidisciplinary perspectives / edited by Gretchen Buggeln, Crispin Paine, and S. Brent Plate.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Buggeln, Gretchen Townsend, editor.

Paine, Crispin, editor.

Plate, S. Brent, 1966- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion--Museums.

Religion.

Religions--Museums.

Religions.

Museums--Religious aspects.

Museums.

Physical Description:

xxv, 265 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York, NY : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017.

Summary:

Bringing together scholars and practitioners from North America, Europe, Russia, and Australia, this pioneering volume provides a global survey of how museums address religion and charts a course for future research and interpretation. Contributors from a variety of disciplines and institutions explore the work of museums from many perspectives, including cultural studies, religious studies, and visual and material culture. Most museums throughout the world - whether art, archaeology, anthropology or history museums - include religious objects, and an increasing number are beginning to address religion as a major category of human identity. With rising museum attendance and the increasingly complex role of religion in social and geopolitical realities, this work of stewardship and interpretation is urgent and important. Religion in Museums is divided into six sections: museum buildings, reception, objects, collecting and research, interpretation of objects and exhibitions, and the representation of religion in different types of museums. Topics covered include repatriation, conservation, architectural design, exhibition, heritage, missionary collections, curation, collections and display, and the visitor's experience. Case studies provide comprehensive coverage and range from museums devoted specifically to the diversity of religious traditions, such as the State Museum of the History of Religion in St Petersburg, to exhibitions centered on religion at secular museums, such as Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, at the British Museum. Book jacket.

Contents:

Museum Architecture and the Sacred: Modes of Engagement / Gretchen Buggeln

Toward a Theology of the Art Museum / Karla Cavarra Britton

Native Americans on the National Mall: the architecture of the Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution / Gretchen Buggeln with Douglas Cardinal and Tim Johnson

The museumification of religion: human evolution and the display of ritual / S. Brent Plate

Altar as museum, museum as altar: ethnography, devotion, and display / Mary Nooter Roberts

Religious history objects in museums / Lauren F. Turek

Archaeological displays: ancient objects, cultural beliefs / Chiara Zuanni

Museums, religious objects, and the flourishing realm of the supernatural in modern Asia / Denis Byrne

Devotional baggage / Steph Berns

Transactional and experiential responses to religious objects / Graham Howes

Museums and the repatriation of objects, 1945-2015 / Mark O'Neill

The case for the news media's critical engagement with museum religious exhibits / Menachem Wecker

Museum collection and the history of interpretation / David Morgan

Community-led museums exploring religious life in Canada: Abbotsford's Sikh Heritage Museum and Mennonite Heritage Museum / Matthew Francis

Sacred objects and conservation: the changing impact of sacred objects on conservators / Samantha Hamilton

Collecting and research in the Museum of the History of Religion / Ekaterina Teryukova

Studying, teaching, and exhibiting religion: Marburg Museum of Religions (Religionskundliche Sammlung) / Konstanze Runge

Radical hospitality: approaching religious understanding in art museums / Amanda Millay Hughes

Islam and museums: learning and outreach / John Reeve

Museums and religion: uneasy companions / Tom L. Freudenheim

Conversing with the past: first-person religious programming at Colonial Williamsburg / Gretchen Buggeln

Religion in museums for families with children / Christian G. Carron, Susan Foutz, and Melissa Pederson

Bringing the sacred into art museums / Gary Vikan

Rich and varied: religion in museums / Crispin Paine

The Museum of Biblical Art: a worthwhile experiment / Ena Giurescu Heller

Missionary museums / Chris Wingfield

Religion at Glencairn Museum: past, present, and future / Ed Gyllenhaal

Afterword: looking to the future of religion in museums / Gretchen Buggeln, Crispin Paine, and S. Brent Plate.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Religion in museums.

ISBN:

9781474255523

1474255523

9781474255516

1474255515

OCLC:

958140241