Art and identity: interpretation and ethnographic collections in regional museums, Britain, 1997-2010

This doctorate examines the redevelopment of ethnographic collections between 1997 and 2010. The collection and interpretation of ethnographic objects has been the subject of much debate between, anthropologists, museum studies scholars and curators who have sought, on the one hand, to reveal and, on the other, to resist colonial representations in contemporary museums. These debates, as well as the longstanding concern about the purpose of the museum itself, informs this research, which focuses upon the period of the New Labour administration (1997- 2010) and the impact of its cultural diversity agendas upon regional museums. It investigates how regional museums have responded to the shifting demands of cultural policies and, in particular, how specific ethnographic collections have been redisplayed and reinterpreted, and the use of art commissions and artists to do so.