Do Ethnographic Museums need Anthropology?

Ethnographic museums have undergone major changes over the last two decades. No longer ossified institutions with a colonial image, ethnographic museums have rebranded themselves as sites of anthropological critique and, in some cases, as museums of world culture or even dropping the name ‘ethnographic’ altogether.
In this open forum we will ask the question: do ethnographic museums need anthropology? If so, in what new directions can anthropology push ethnographic collections? Whom should ethnographic museums serve? What should they contain? We are interested to discuss anthropological methods in museums, exploring the kinds of knowledge that lie behind acts of labelling and ordering, and displays related to research and field-work.
The forum will help inform how the UQ Anthropology Museum might consider the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
Followed by a reception at the Anthropology Museum.

Presenters

Chair: Robert Mason, Griffith University

Discussants: Michael Aird, Research Fellow in Anthropology, School of Social Science, UQ / Ruth McDougall, Curator of Pacific Art, QAGOMA / Graeme Were, Anthropology Museum Director, UQ

Enquiries: anthmuseum@uq.edu.au  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/criticalapproach/?ref=bookmarks

How to get to the UQ Anthropology Museum

The University of Queensland Anthropology Museum is located within the UQ Campus in Brisbane’s St Lucia District.
There are excellent public transport options offered to reach the UQ Campus. Buses run from Central Station and Toowong Station frequently. If you would prefer to drive and park at UQ the University is now operating an App-based parking payment system called CellOPark, please register here beforehand for smooth transition on the day: https://www.pf.uq.edu.au/parking/casual.html
The University of Queensland Anthropology Museum is on the lowest level of the Michie Building (Building REF: #9) and is easiest to access from the west.

You may enter, from the west, at the same level off the Michie Forecourt, which is itself adjacent to ‘Chancellors Place’ Bus Stops if you are arriving by bus.

You also may enter from the Great Court; enter the Michie Building on its eastern entrance and then veer right towards the northern exit. Either, just past the toilets and the lifts, take the stairs down to the ground floor for the Museum. Or pass through the glass exit doors and down the northern steps before turning left and left again at the end of the building to reach the Michie Forecourt, then enter the glass doors on the west side of the Michie building.

The map below shows you where the Michie Building is located on Campus at St Lucia using a red marker-pin