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Paper short abstract:

This text delves into the interaction between the Parisian Senegalese diaspora and the Musée Quai Branly, studying Senegalese textile dolls and their relation to the local diaspora, highlighting the museum's role in alienating the objects from diasporic cultural festivities and identity molding.

Paper long abstract:

This text examines the relationship between the Parisian Senegalese diaspora and the Musée du Quai Branly, focusing on how museum spaces can both facilitate or disrupt the transmission of indigenous knowledge within the diaspora. The Museum includes wax and textile dolls from the Mande, Bassari, Toucouleur, and Wolof communities collected during various missions. For the museum, artifacts represent a conduit for exploring the dynamics of cultural preservation and knowledge transmission among diasporas. From a diaspora perspective, these objects may represent sources of embarrassment meant to be concealed, underscoring the stark reminder of the Global South's plunder, as evidenced by the sequestration of these items.

The article explores the difficulties encountered in including these objects in the preservation of indigenous customs, particularly the paradox of being physically close, yet emotionally distanced. This paper questions the museum in either supporting diasporas through inclusion or, excluding its voice from the narrative constructed around objects. Through transcribed discussions, this study examines the museum's potential dialogue between the diaspora and its heritage collections.

Frobenius's exploration of cultural identity and morphology offers a foundational approach for examining how museums contributes to the alienation of artifacts and diasporic communities. Azoulay and Vergès's critical analysis of Western museology sheds light on the treatment of objects stripped of their contentious histories through colonial extraction. Through the lens of the selected textile dolls, this text seeks to unravel the complexities of indigenous knowledge transmission or forgetness within the diaspora, highlighting the role of the museums in molding cultural identity.