Paper short abstract:

The Melanesia Project acquired a collection by exchange from PNG for the British Museum. Unusual in contemporary museum collecting, this pragmatic response to concerns in the field reveals a contrasting outlook on the giving of objects by a source community to that of the museum.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper I revisit the concept of "duplicates", "gaps" and "exchange" in museum collecting and acquisition. While the concept of "gaps" maintains currency in the language of contemporary museum acquisition, the idea of "duplicates", while related, has antiquated associations. In the "old days" museums designated some objects as "duplicates" which might be "exchanged" for objects from other institutions, thus filling their own collection "gaps". I consider these terms in reflecting upon historical transactions of Melanesian objects at the British Museum. I then compare these to a contemporary acquisition made as part of a field collection in Papua New Guinea in 2007, made though an exchange. The 2007 exchange provides a means to reflect upon the acquisition of non-material aspects (social relationships) through exchange, aspects which are normally disconnected with objects as "collectables". This dimension, is generally not comprehended as part of a museum's acquisition process, where a simple monetary transaction normally cements a purchase. In this specific case, contemporary collecting through exchange required a shift from acquiring objects to establishing relationships.