Museums of world religions
Subtitle: displaying the divine, shaping cultures
By: Charles Orzech
Edition: First edition.
Series: Bloomsbury Studies in Material Religion
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2020
Place of publication: London [England]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 225
ISBN-13: 9781350016279; 9781350016262
Subjects: Museums; Religious aspects; Religion; Exhibitions; Sociology & anthropology
Description: "Critically examining the notion of 'world religions', Charles D. Orzech compares five purpose-built museums of world religions and their online extensions. Inspired by the 19th and 20th century discipline of comparative religion, these museums seek to promote religious tolerance by representing religious diversity and by arguing for underlying kinship among religions. From locations in Europe (Marburg, Glasgow and St Petersburg), to North America (Quebec) to Asia (Taipei), each museum advances a particular cultural history. This book shows how the curation of the objects they contain shapes public perceptions of religion, giving material form to the discourses about religion and world religions. Raising important questions about religion and secularity, museum displays and religious piety, Museums of World Religions questions the ideology that informs these museums. Building on recent anthropological work on the agency of religious objects, the author critiques these museums and suggests new approaches to displaying the matter of religion."--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Abstract freely available; full-text restricted to individual document purchasers.

Compliant with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Content is displayed as HTML full text which can easily be resized or read with assistive technology, with mark-up that allows screen readers and keyboard-only users to navigate easily

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Print version record.
Table of contents: title: Preface and Acknowledgements; title: Part I: Displaying the Divine: Religious Objects and Comparison; title: 1. Comparative Religion and World Religions Museums; title: 2. The Body of God and the Matter of Religion Part II: Five Museums of World Religions; title: 3. The Numinous in Marburg: Rudolf Otto's Religionskundliche Sammlung; title: 4. Atheism, Science, and the History of Religions: St. Petersburg's State Museum of the History of Religions; title: 5. Religion and Local Knowledge: Quebec's Le Musě Des Religions du Monde; title: 6. A Dialogical Museum: The Sacred Gaze and the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art; title: 7. A Religious Museum: The Museum of World Religions in Taipei Conclusion: Rethinking Museums of Religions; title: Bibliography; title: Index.