NON-WESTERN ART IN THE MUSEUM: APPRECIATION OR APPROPRIATION?

Exhibition of non-Western objects as art in Western museums is problematic, because it objectifies, instrumentalizes and appropriates non-Western objects. Purposes and the ways in which non-Western objects have been displayed change over time. In the pre-modern period, non-Western objects were collected and displayed together in cabinets of curiosities because they were perceived to be ‘exotic’ and ‘wondrous’(Clifford). In the enlightenment period, the objects were valued for their informativeness rather than their ‘exotic’ qualities. The objects were collected and classified as instruments which could help the scientific naturalists explain a universal story of human history in which the West enjoys a superior economic and cultural position whereas ‘primitive’ others are representative of early developmental stages of the civilization of mankind (Clifford, 228).  <a href="https://nursevencan.medium.com/non-western-art-in-the-museum-appreciation-or-appropriation-4b67390b1a6d">Click Here</a>