CONSTRUCTION OF ANDEAN OTHERNESS THROUGH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS IN EUROPEAN MUSEUMS
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-11-22

In a diverse Europe that has to deal with complex issues such as immigration, otherness and the colonial legacy, the representation of non-European cultures through their archaeological and ethnological heritage is vital as it constructs an image of otherness from the past and in the present that supposes an intercultural dialogue. In this context, this article focuses on the representation of the Andean Region cultures of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia through their material culture in the archaeological and ethnological exhibitions of some archaeological and ethnographic European museums. The study has been developed through an analysis of available literature, data collection in different European museums from Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Sweden, especially their photographic archives and the analysis of current museum exhibitions. The main objective of this paper is to determine how this otherness is constructed today in the context of what ICOM has called the “diffused museum”. This is a necessary analysis considering the historical and current relationships between Europe and Latin America where the material culture issue is a complicated one. In this regard, the analysis focuses on the themes, strategies and different actors involved in creating the message and contextualization of the Andean otherness in European museums through their most visible aspect, their exhibitions, and thus answering the question of whether this representation allows the development of an intercultural dialogue.


Author(s): Molina, Bárbara (Barcelona University)