Exhibiting the Nation: Indigenousness in Chile's National Museums

This article describes the history of Chile’s national museums, focusing in particular on their exhibition of indigenous cultures. Three museums are considered: the National Museum of Natural History (originally the National Museum); the National Museum of Fine Arts; and the National Museum of Histo...

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Main Author: Magdelena Gil
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Leicester 2017-06-01
Series:Museum & Society
Online Access:https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/mas/article/view/627
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spelling doaj-1b9569a49e7b476284ee1f55f4e35ea92020-11-24T23:10:39ZengUniversity of LeicesterMuseum & Society1479-83602017-06-01141829710.29311/mas.v14i1.627581Exhibiting the Nation: Indigenousness in Chile's National MuseumsMagdelena GilThis article describes the history of Chile’s national museums, focusing in particular on their exhibition of indigenous cultures. Three museums are considered: the National Museum of Natural History (originally the National Museum); the National Museum of Fine Arts; and the National Museum of History. Using museum catalogues, visitor’s guides and bulletins as sources, this research traces the role given to indigenousness in the museums’ exhibitions through time. Initially, the ‘Indian’ was presented as either part of the territory conquered by Chileans, or as not part of Chilean culture at all. By the twentieth century, however, a new narrative emerged which recognizes the indigenous people as the ‘pre-historic’ inhabitants of Chile. Most recently, a more complex narrative presents Chile as a blending of races and cultures. Overall, we see that today each museum continues to see nationhood as something that is monolithic, allowing little place for indigenous people beyond mestizaje (blending of ‘races’). Key words: indigenous, exhibitions, Latin America, national identityhttps://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/mas/article/view/627
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Magdelena Gil
spellingShingle Magdelena Gil
Exhibiting the Nation: Indigenousness in Chile's National Museums
Museum & Society
author_facet Magdelena Gil
author_sort Magdelena Gil
title Exhibiting the Nation: Indigenousness in Chile's National Museums
title_short Exhibiting the Nation: Indigenousness in Chile's National Museums
title_full Exhibiting the Nation: Indigenousness in Chile's National Museums
title_fullStr Exhibiting the Nation: Indigenousness in Chile's National Museums
title_full_unstemmed Exhibiting the Nation: Indigenousness in Chile's National Museums
title_sort exhibiting the nation: indigenousness in chile's national museums
publisher University of Leicester
series Museum & Society
issn 1479-8360
publishDate 2017-06-01
description This article describes the history of Chile’s national museums, focusing in particular on their exhibition of indigenous cultures. Three museums are considered: the National Museum of Natural History (originally the National Museum); the National Museum of Fine Arts; and the National Museum of History. Using museum catalogues, visitor’s guides and bulletins as sources, this research traces the role given to indigenousness in the museums’ exhibitions through time. Initially, the ‘Indian’ was presented as either part of the territory conquered by Chileans, or as not part of Chilean culture at all. By the twentieth century, however, a new narrative emerged which recognizes the indigenous people as the ‘pre-historic’ inhabitants of Chile. Most recently, a more complex narrative presents Chile as a blending of races and cultures. Overall, we see that today each museum continues to see nationhood as something that is monolithic, allowing little place for indigenous people beyond mestizaje (blending of ‘races’). Key words: indigenous, exhibitions, Latin America, national identity
url https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/mas/article/view/627
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