Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces

Exhibiting Asian Religions in Museums

By: Bruce M. Sullivan (Editor)

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Paperback | 22 October 2015 | Edition Number 1

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216 Pages

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22.5 x 15.5 x 2

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We have long recognized that many objects in museums were originally on display in temples, shrines, or monasteries, and were religiously significant to the communities that created and used them. How, though, are such objects to be understood, described, exhibited, and handled now that they are in museums? Are they still sacred objects, or formerly sacred objects that are now art objects, or are they simultaneously objects of religious and artistic significance, depending on who is viewing the object? These objects not only raise questions about their own identities, but also about the ways we understand the religious traditions in which these objects were created and which they represent in museums today.

Bringing together religious studies scholars and museum curators, Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces is the first volume to focus on Asian religions in relation to these questions. The contributors analyze an array of issues related to the exhibition in museums of objects of religious significance from Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh traditions. The "lives" of objects are considered, along with the categories of "sacred" and "profane", "religious" and "secular".

As interest in material manifestations of religious ideas and practices continues to grow, Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces is a much-needed contribution to religious and Asian studies, anthropology of religion and museums studies.

Industry Reviews

The essays themselves are fascinating, not least because they bring together both museum curators and religious studies scholars thinking aloud, hard, and in parallel, about the 'material' and 'religious' dimensions of the objects they are exhibiting. * Art and Christianity *
This timely volume is a valuable set of essays exploring the relationship between religious material culture and the politics of display in museums. The essays deal primarily with South and East Asian objects, each delicately balancing theory with ethnography and history. -- Frank J. Korom, Professor of Religion & Anthropology, Boston University, USA
This book captures some of the many journeys made, and shifting roles played, by sacred objects when they are taken from their temples and shrines. They can become imperial trophies, scientific specimens, bland conscripts in multicultural narratives, stereotypes paraded to boost museum visits, respected ambassadors representing faiths, traditions or groups, commodities in the art market, and - perhaps - return to being intermediaries between the material and the spiritual. This book offers not a single argument, but a judicious mixture of appreciation and critique, scepticism and enthusiasm, history and philosophy. Beyond its clear relevance to religious and museum studies, it casts interesting light on one of the most important issues of our time, the public understanding of religious difference - and the role of museums as civic spaces in which difference can be explored. -- Mark O'Neill, Director of Policy & Research, Glasgow Life, and former Director of Glasgow Museums, UK

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