Museum folklore explained

Museum folklore is a domain of scholarship and professional practice within the field of folklore studies (folkloristics).

Characteristics

Some museum folklorists work full-time in museums of ethnography, ethnology, cultural history, or folk art, often as educators, curators, and directors. Others work in other settings, such as in public folklore programs, academic departments, community-based organizations, and consultancies. Such folklorists either partner with museums in the development of scholarly and public programs or study the history and impact of such work.[1]

Key themes in museum folklore include policies and practices relating to tangible and intangible cultural heritage,[2] [3] museums as sites of conscience,[4] museums and cultural tourism,[5] and museums as sites of innovation relative to the digital preservation, presentation, and access to cultural heritage collections.[6] Museum folklore practice has often focused on ways of animating the object-centered nature of the museum through events and activities that bring the people behind heritage collections into engagement with museum audiences, as through such activities as museum-based artist in residency programs, folk festivals, and art and craft sales markets.[7]

There is significant interaction and overlap between museum folklore and the neighboring field of museum anthropology, as well as the interdisciplinary field of material culture studies.[8] [9] [10] [11] Museum folklore is often understood as a sub-area of the wider realm of public folklore.[12] In North America, the historical connections linking anthropology and folklore studies more broadly are of particular relevance to museum folklorists because many early leaders of the American folklore society were also anthropologists active in museums.[13] In Europe, what is here referred to as museum folklore would often fall within the field of European ethnology.[14] Museum folklore is also often understood as a part of the sub-field of folklife studies.[15]

Organizations

An organizational home for the sub-field in the United States and Canada is the Folklore and Museums section of the American Folklore Society. Among folklorists, this section is cognate to the Council for Museum Anthropology among museum anthropologists.

Important persons

Prominent figures in the history of museum folklore include:

Leading senior scholar-practitioners in the field today include Marsha Bol, C. Kurt Dewhurst, Rayna Green, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, and Marsha MacDowell.[23] [24] [25] [26] [27]

Notes and References

  1. Dewhurst. C. Kurt. Folklife and Museum Practice: An Intertwined History and Emerging Convergences. Journal of American Folklore. 2014. 127. 505. 247–263. 10.5406/jamerfolk.127.505.0247. 11 October 2015.
  2. Web site: China-US Folklore and Intangible Cultural Heritage Project. American Folklore Society. 11 October 2015.
  3. Web site: Intangible Cultural Heritage and Ethnographic Museum Practice. American Folklore Society. 11 October 2015.
  4. Web site: Museum of International Folk Art (USA). International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. 11 October 2015.
  5. Book: Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. Barbara. Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage. 1998. University of California Press. Berkeley. 0520209664.
  6. Book: Bol. Marsha. Dewhurst. C. Kurt. Hertz. Carrie. Jackson. Jason Baird. MacDowell. Marsha. Seeman. Charlie. Seriff. Suzy. Sheehy. Daniel. Rethinking the Role of Folklore in Museums: Exploring New Directions for Folklore in Museum Policy and Practice. 2015. American Folklore Society. Bloomington, IN. 11 October 2015.
  7. Book: Hall. Patricia. Seeman. Charlie. Folklife and Museums: Selected Readings. 1987. American Association of State and Local History. Nashville, TN. 0910050856. 11 October 2015. registration.
  8. Berlinger. Gabrielle A.. Ethnography as a Strategy in Museum Preservation. Practicing Anthropology. 2015. 37. 3. 34. 10.17730/0888-4552-37.3.34.
  9. Dewhurst. C. Kurt. MacDowell. Marsha. Strategies for Creating and Sustaining Museum-Based International Collaborative Partnerships. Practicing Anthropology. 2015. 37. 3. 54–55. 10.17730/0888-4552-37.3.54.
  10. Hertz. Carrie. Finding the Local in the Global in the 21st Century. Practicing Anthropology. 2015. 37. 3. 56. 10.17730/0888-4552-37.3.56.
  11. Jackson. Jason Baird. Interconnections: Folklore Studies and Anthropology at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. Practicing Anthropology. 2015. 37. 3. 20–23. 10.17730/0888-4552-37.3.20.
  12. Book: Baron. Robert. Spitzer. Nicholas R.. Public Folklore. 2007. University Press of Mississippi. Jackson. 9781604733167. 607552460. 3rd.
  13. Darnell. Regna. American Anthropology and the Development of Folklore Scholarship: 1890-1920. Journal of the Folklore Institute. 1973. 10. 1–2. 23–39. 10.2307/3813878. 3813878.
  14. Niedermüller. Peter. Stoklund. Bjarne. Special Issue: Museum and Modernity. Ethnologia Europaea. 2004. 33. 1. 1–93.
  15. Book: Bronner. Simon J.. Encyclopedia of American Folklife. 2006. M.E. Sharpe. Armonk, NY. 9780765680525.
  16. Lurie. Nancy. A Lesson for Curators. African Arts. 1932. 16. 2. 90. 3335845.
  17. Crowley. Daniel. Dundes. Alan. William Russel Bascom (1912-1981). Journal of American Folklore. 1982. 95. 378. 465–467. 540751.
  18. Redman. Samuel J.. Museum Tours and the Origins of Museum Studies: Edward W. Gifford, William R. Bascom, and the Remaking of an Anthropology Museum. Museum Management and Curatorship. 2015. 30. 5. 10.1080/09647775.2015.1076708. 444–461. 161806193 .
  19. Book: Stocking. George. Objects and Others: Essays on Museums and Material Culture. 1988. University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
  20. Becker. Mary Druke. William N. Fenton (1908–2005): Relationships, Research, and Museums. Museum Anthropology. 2006. 29. 1. 44–49. 10.1525/mua.2006.29.1.44.
  21. Bronner. Simon. Stewart Culin, Museum Magician. Pennsylvania Heritage. 1985. 11. 3. 4–11.
  22. Stoklund. Bjarne. Between Scenography and Science: Early Folk Museums and their Pioneers. Ethnologia Europaea. 2004. 33. 1. 21–36.
  23. Web site: Museum of International Folk Art Director, Marsha Bol Announces Retirement. New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. 11 October 2015.
  24. Web site: C. Kurt Dewhurst. Michigan State University Museum. 11 October 2015.
  25. Web site: Rayna Green. National Museum of American History. 28 October 2015.
  26. News: Hoffman. Allison. The Curator of Joy and Ashes. 11 October 2015. Tablet. April 10, 2013.
  27. Web site: Marsha MacDowell. Michigan State University Museum. 11 October 2015.

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