The Poetics

and Politics
of Museum
Display

Edited by

Ivan Karp and

Steven D. Lavine

EXHIBITING CULTURES
Smithson ian

Institu t ion

Pr ess

Washing to n

and Lo ndon
 Contents
Acknowled gements ix

Introductio n: Museums and M ulticulturalism 1

S T E V E N D. L A V I N E A N D I V A N K A R P

P A R T f: Cultu r e and Representation 11

IVAN KARP

C H A P T E R I : T h e M useum as a Way of Seeing 25

SV ET LA NA ALPERS

C H A P T E R 2: Exhibiting Intention: Some Precondi­

tions of the Visual Display of Cultur­
ally Purposeful Objects 33
MICHAEL B A X A N D A L L

C H A P T E R 3: Resonance and Wonder 42

STEPHEN GREENBLATT

C H A P T E R 4: T h e Poetics of Exhibition in Japanese

Culture 57
MASAO YAMAGUCHI

C H A P T E R 5: Anoth er Past, Another Context: Ex­

hibiting Indian Art Abroad 68
B. N. G O S W A M Y

P A R T 2: Art M u seums, N ational Identity, and the Statu s of

Mino r ity Cultures: The Case of H ispan ic Art in the
United States 79
S T E V E N D. L A V I N E
vi CONTENTS

CH A PTE R 6: Art Museums and the Ritual of

Citizenship 88
CAROL DUNCAN

C H A PTER 7: The Poetics a nd Politics of Hispa nic

Art: A New Perspective 104
JANE LIVINGSTON AND JOHN

BEARDSLEY

CHA PTER 8: Minorities and Fine-Arts Museums in

the United States 121
P E T E R C. M A R Z I O

C H A PTE R 9: The Chicano Movement/The Move­

ment of Chicano Art 128
TOMAS YB AR RA-FRAUSTO

P A R T 3: Museum Practices 151

STEVEN D . LAVINE

C H A PTE R 10: L ocating Authenticity: Fragments of

a Dialogue 159
S P E N C E R R. C R E W A N D J A M E S E. SI MS

C H A PTE R 11: Noodling Around with Exhibition

Opportunities 176
E L A I N E H E U M A N N G U R I AN

C H A PTE R «2: Always True to the Object, in Our

Fashion 191
SUSAN VOG EL

C H A P TE R 13: The Poetic Image and Native Amer­

ican Art 205
P A T R I C K T. H O U L I H A N

C H A PTE R 14: Four Northwest Coast Museums:

Travel Reflections 212
JAMES CLI FFORD
 Contents vii

C H A P T E R 15: Why Museums M ake Me Sad 255

J A M E S A. B O O N

PART 4 Festivals 279

IVAN KARP

C H A P T E R 16: The Politics of Participation in Folk-

life Festivals 288
RICHARD BAU M AN A ND PATRICIA
SAWIN

C H A P T E R 17: Cultural Conservation through Rep­

resentation: Festival of Ind ia Folk-
life Exhibitions at the Smithsonian
Institution 315
RICHARD KURIN

C H A P T E R 18: The World as Marketplace: Com­

modification of the Exotic at the
World’s Columbian Exposition,
Chicago, 1893 344
C U R T I S M. H I N S L E Y

C H A P T E R 19: Festivals and Diplomacy 366

T E D M. G. T A N E N

PART 5 Other Cultures in Museu m Perspective 373

IVAN KARP

C H A P T E R 20: Objects of Ethnography 386

BARBARA KIRSHENBLATT-GIMBLETT

C H A P T E R 21: Refocusing or Reorientation? The

Exhibit or the Populace: Zimbabwe
on the Threshold 444
D A W S O N MUNJERI

C H A P T E R 22: How Misleading Does an Ethno­

graphical Museum Have to Be? 457