Ethical Issues

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Presentation Citations:

Anthropologist James Clifford asks, “Who has the authority to speak for a group’s identity or authenticity?” (1988: 8)

Clifford recognizes these as two “meta-narratives: one of homogenization, the other of emergence: one of loss, the other of invention” (1988: 17)

Yet, Clifford tells us that “It is more than ever crucial for different peoples to form complex, concrete images of one another…; but no sovereign scientific method or ethical stance can guarantee the truth of such images” (1988: 23).

Vogel’s remarks concerning exhibitions give us a start. “The fact that museums re-contextualize and interpret objects is a given, requiring no apologies. They should, however, be self-aware and open about the degree of subjectivity that is also a given. Museum professionals must be conscious of what they do and why, and they should inform the public that what it sees is … not a broad frame through which the art and culture of the world can be inspected, but a tightly focused lens that shows the visitor a particular point of view.” (1990: 201)

Captions edited by Shanna on 8/6/21.

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