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- Convenors:
-
Marinella Ceravolo
(Sapienza University)
Alessandro Saggioro (Sapienza University)
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- Chair:
-
Verena Meyer
(MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society)
- Format:
- Panel
- Location:
- Iota room
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 6 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Vilnius
Short Abstract:
This panel focuses on the relationship between religions and their tangible media within museums and emphasises the use of new technologies in exhibition halls. The aim is to reflect upon issues related to the re-semantisation of the materiality of religions of past and present cultures
Long Abstract:
In recent decades, in a so-called material turn, the importance of religious media, such as objects, places and bodies, is being reevaluated. In parallel, the study of religious materiality has come into contact with the processes of musealisation, which mostly emphasise an art-historical view of artifacts. As a result, museal exhibitions have often involved the "de-sacralisation" of objects, followed by their new "re-symbolisation". It can therefore be asserted that: "whilst we have developed highly sophisticated theories and techniques, in respect of the object's physical conservation, we can say that we have still not managed to conserve its significance (and its meaning) and we still do not restore the intangible" (Minucciani 2003). For these reasons, the main topic of this panel is the relationship between religions and their tangible media within museums, aimed at reflecting on issues related to the re-semantisation of the materiality of religions from both past and present cultures. Special emphasis will also be placed on the employment of new technologies in exhibition halls, asking questions about how scientific innovations can be used to convey the original religious natures of specific artifacts.
In particular, abstracts may cover the following topics:
- Types and classifications of tangible religious media exhibited in museums.
- Transformations of the meanings and agencies of religious materiality in museum settings.
- The relationship between virtual museums and concrete religious artifacts.
- The role of museums in creating peace interactions and religious dialogues.
- The intercourse between post-colonial studies and reconciliations in world museums.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 6 September, 2023, -Paper short abstract:
The subject of this paper is the processes of re-semantisation that turned the Cyrus Cylinder from an object linked to a foundation rite into a symbol of peace and tolerance.
Paper long abstract:
The Cyrus Cylinder, now on display at the British Museum, is one of the most famous artefacts of the ancient Near East. This clay cylinder was written to commemorate the restoration of the walls of Babylon by Cyrus II (559-530 BC) of Persia following the city's conquest in 539 BC. In the long Akkadian inscription, the Persian king manipulates some of the recurring topoi of Mesopotamian kingship, presenting himself as a pious ruler, restorer of temples and bringer of peace among the people. In the 1970s, the cylinder underwent extensive re-semantisation within the Pahlavi dynasty, which recognised it as the “first declaration of human rights." The cylinder thus became a symbol of peace and tolerance, achieving a symbolic force that triggered a veritable "Cyromania," often embodied in the reproduction of several replicas (one of which is housed in the United Nations headquarters).
Starting with an analysis of the inscription, this paper aims to reflect on the original meaning of the Akkadian text and its contemporary exegeses and interpretations. In addition, the presentation will examine the cylinder as an object endowed with a new agentivity, paying particular attention to the role of its musealisation and exhibition in different parts of the world.
Paper short abstract:
Museum objects as lived religion. Displaying material religion over time (A case study of Greek museums)
Paper long abstract:
Can museums affect the way we understand religion? Is religion a possible exhibition display? But whose religion? How we define and communicate in the museum the religious material culture of ancient communities? Are there "good" practices?
These and other issues emerged during the PhD research of the undersigned regarding the methods museums adopt (especially Greek museums - national and also public and private art museums), when displaying and (re-) interpreting the religious material culture of their diachronic collections.
Examining in detail various museums and exhibitions (objects exhibition contexts of archaeological, byzantine, Jewish, Islamic collections) and interpretations (texts and language), the research, unfolds the basic issues and the deficiencies related to the exhibition and interpretation of religious objects and religion in Museums today.
The results are based on an analytical registration and a close examination of the current situation and the ways curators choose to interpret and exhibit religious objects for their visitors, who are people of different age, education, status, background, race and religious belief. From the early stage of the research, the fundamental issues and difficulties arose as a challenge, leading the focus on specific scientific approaches such as:
- Identifying in the exhibition the religious object that, in generally, where not labelled as such.
- Defining the religious material culture through concepts that where often beyond archaeological knowledge and material culture theories, such as the philosophy of religion and theology.
- Integrating in a coherent scientific context of religious objects in museum both ancient and lived religions and relative topics such as pluralism, diversity, human rights, identity etc.
- Proposing a guideline of recommendations, a basic code of best practices related to religious objects and museum interpretation and exhibition.
Paper short abstract:
This presentation provides an overview of using religion in Estonian museum exhibitions and discusses various aspects of how religion appears or does not appear in display.
Paper long abstract:
Religion has never been an essential subject in Estonian museum exhibitions. Instead, the museums have tried to demonstrate the real life of people and thus the exhibitions demonstrate macro-historical events and aspects of folk culture. Following the broader political and ideological trends in Estonia, the Christian church has been portrayed as an alien while the folk religion associates with primitive and old-fashioned relicts of past.
The aim of this presentation is to map the main trends in how religion appears in Estonian museology since the beginning of the 20th century: if religion exists at all, what are the key-elements of religion in displays and how are these tendencies reflected in creating museum collections? Are there any conceptual differences between eras prior and after the Soviet atheist campaign or how is the modern label of 'Estonia being the least religious country in Europe' reflected in museum exhibitions?