1st Edition
Religious Objects in Museums Private Lives and Public Duties
By Crispin Paine
Copyright 2013
192 Pages
by
Routledge
192 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
In the past, museums often changed the meaning of icons or statues of deities from sacred to aesthetic, or used them to declare the superiority of Western society, or simply as cultural and historical evidence. The last generation has seen faith groups demanding to control 'their' objects, and curators recognising that objects can only be understood within their original religious context. In... Read more
IntroductionObjects CuratedObjects VisitedObjects Worshipped and WorshippingObjects ClaimedObjects RespectedObjects Demanding and DangerousObjects ElevatingObjects MilitantObjects PromotionalObjects Explanatory and EvidentialConclusionNotesReferences
Biography
Crispin Paine is Honorary Lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, UK.
"The author takes his readers on a magical world tour of tangible things that were once-and in some cases still are-used in a huge variety of religious settings. With a cosmopolitan lightness of touch, Paine demonstrates the radical instability of such things, even once they have found their way into museums. They do not have a single meaning or use, but are almost infinitely adaptable. Above all, he deftly shows that the ""distinction between ‘religious' and ‘mundane' is a curious modern Western idea, incomprehensible to most people at most times."" No other book introduces readers more engagingly to the puzzles surrounding how museums address the sacred realm worldwide. - Ivan Gaskell, Professor of Cultural History, and of Museum Studies, Bard Graduate Center, New York City This excellent study of museum exhibitions of religiously significant objects provides an illuminating overview of the issues and challenges arising from such exhibitions…Crispin Paine’s book is a welcome new resource and will appeal to all who seek to understand the material dimensions of religious activity. - Journal of the American Academy of Religion - Bruce M. Sullivan, Northern Arizona University"
