Siobhan Campbell
 |
| Unknown artist, Hanoman, c. 1900, kober, natural pigment on cotton cloth, 490 x 530 mm, Forge Collection E074236
Photo: Emma Furno, courtesy of the Australian Museum
|
Abstract This
paper examines the different forms of indigenous agency embodied in a
museum collection and identifies personal relationships as a
constructive platform from which to understand objects in collections of
material culture. Specifically, it describes the results of a field
investigation to gather Balinese responses to the Forge Collection of
Balinese Art at the Australian Museum. This approach reflects the
broadening vision in museum practice and scholarship over the last
decades, recognising that most museum institutions describe themselves
as the custodians or guardians of collections and seek to engage with
the indigenous communities that produced them. Most people in the
village of Kamasan in East Bali, Indonesia, have recollections of the
late collector and anthropologist Anthony Forge, given that only 40
years has passed since he lived in the village with his family. This
paper relates some general responses to his collecting project before
considering the complex and productive relationship between Forge and
the artist Mangku Mura. Not only is it apparent that the relationship
between artist and anthropologist–collector had implications for the
material form of art produced in the village, and subsequently housed in
the museum collection, it shows that traditional artists produce their
art in defiance of conventional understandings of ‘traditional’ art.
While this paper is an occasion to reflect on the applicability of a
particular field methodology and approach to other cultural collections,
it also points to the wider implications for interpreting ‘traditional’
practices by opening up to debate ideas about timelessness and
originality in the context of changing social relations. Read full paper
Full paper published in craft+design enquiry: issue 1 Issue 6 2014, Craft.Material.Memory
Museum Collections, Balinese Art, Kamasan Village, Fieldwork, Source Communities,
Anthony Forge
Anthony Forge
