In this episode of AnthroTalking we went to Stockholm’s Museum of Ethnography to talk to the museum’s curator for Africa, Michael Barrett who has a PhD in Anthropology from Uppsala University. In this podcast he tells us about his PhD research in Zambia, how he came to work as curator for Africa at the Museum of Ethnography and explains how, as curator, he handles knowledge production around this huge continent.
We also discuss how the museum is situated within Sweden’s network of National Museums of World Culture network, collaborations with international partners and current exhibitions Michael is working on: one project on the origins of symbolic culture in Africa, as well as a longer term assignment re-working how Africa is represented in the Museum of Ethnography’s collections. Finally he raises an important question, asking how the museum and anthropologists could work together in the future.
Published on:
March 25, 2015
Created by:
Kinga Jankus and Kelsey Oldbury
Keywords:
museum, curator, anthropology, Africa, Michael Barrett
Further information:
- Michael Barrett
- Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm
- National Museums of World Culture in Sweden
- Professor Thomas Larsson at Umeå University
- Professor Chris Henshilwood at University of Witswatersrand
Cite as:
Jankus, Kinga and Oldbury, Kelsey “Michael Barrett on Stockholm’s Museum of Ethnography and the Representation of Africa” AnthroTalking: Podcasts at Stockholm University’s Department of Social Anthropology, online: March 25, 2015, http://www.socant.su.se/english/about-us/anthrotalking/michael-barrett-on-his-work-at-stockholm-s-museum-of-ethnography-and-the-representation-of-africa-1.229936