The Museum of Other People

Reviews / Votes

A formidable work ... one whose want has been much felt. Apparently easy answers to the question of what such a museum might be and universal 'solutions' to the restitution problem are elegantly shown to be entangled in contradictions and false assumptions -- Nigel Barley, former Assistant Keeper at the British Museum and author * The Innocent Anthropologist * A magnificent, moving survey ... Kuper's case is strong and his voice-erudite and elegiac-commands respect ... With erudition and good humor, he traces the histories of museums of other people since the Enlightenment -- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto * TLS * This is the must-read book for anyone interested in the history of ethnographic museums and how the urban public of Western industrial nations learned about the myriad "other people" living on our planet. Kuper applies his monumental knowledge of the history of anthropological scholarship to lay out his vision of how the ethnographic museums were born, thrived, and eventually moved to the margins of public imagination. Yet, as he rightly claims, big ethnographic museums face new beginnings in the 21st century -- ones defined by creative exhibits, ethical stewardship, and modern education about lives and cultures of world's "other people" -- Igor Krupnik, Chair of Anthropology and Curator of Circumpolar Ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Adam Kuper shows in his engaging new overview of the Western world's ethnology/antiquities/natural history museums that the issues of identity and ethics with which these key cultural institutions wrestle today have very deep roots indeed. His book is obligatory reading for anyone interested in the complexities of international repatriation, the boundaries of "art," and the role of museums in the modern world -- Ian Tattersall, curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History A delight from the first to the last page [which] raises questions that could lead to ways out of the dilemmas ... The juxtapositions of the different positions, which Adam Kuper presents very pointedly, clarifies the arguments with a sharpness that I have rarely experienced. It will certainly provoke dissent, but that is what the discipline (especially in its museums branch) thrives on (or should thrive on) ... Wonderful -- Dr Anna Schmid, Director of the Museum of Cultures Basel A provocative look at questions of ethnography, ownership and restitution ... should be required reading for the trustees of big museums everywhere -- Richard Lambert * FT * Material for thought ... Nothing beats reading this book, without bias but with a sort of peaceful objectivity, sometimes polemical -- Olivier Gabet, Director of the Department of Art at the Louvre A level-headed survey of the rise and fall of anthropological and ethnographic collections and what their futures may hold ... Kuper steers a pragmatic course through these perilous waters -- Keith Miller * Art Newspaper * Impressive ... Kuper doesn't shy away from contentious issues. He is alert to the ironies that pervade claims of provenance, identification, reclamation and protection * Inside Story * Praise for Adam Kuper:
'Witty, entertaining, and compulsively readable -- David N. Gellner, University of Oxford Will enlighten any reader ... [Kuper] brings to life the personalities and clashes during a time that spawned outsize personalities, moments of brilliance, and several generations of students -- Stephen Gudeman, University of Minnesota An excellent, comprehensive tour through one of the most important and influential schools of anthropological theory * New Books Network *