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Raymond Silverman
As a student of cultural history, I have always felt that objects can carry a tremendous amount of information about the people who made and used them. This is particularly true for Africa where a great deal of history may be "inscribed" in a given object. Studying the things that people make, learning to "read" the object, and seeking to understand the meaning of the object within the cultural setting in which it was produced, provides a means for acquiring a better understanding of a part of the world about which most Americans know very little.
Documenting and collecting objects in Africa for Michigan State University Museum as part of my research in Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana has made it possible to preserve a discrete body of material culture for posterity so that it can be used in various interpretive or educational programs, especially exhibitions. It has afforded me a wonderful opportunity to share with others the insights I have acquired through living and working in Africa.
Too often, objects have been collected in Africa with little concern for provenance—the history of the object. Museums in Europe and North America are full of artifacts that were collected as curiosities or as art objects, with no interest in their original culture significance. Such objects tell us little about their former owners. Indeed, one could argue that the history inscribed in these appropriated objects is more European or American than African. As a curator, I feel very strongly that the most valuable objects are those that come to the museum with a life history. It is for this reason that I encourage my students and colleagues here at Michigan State University to carefully document the things they collect, whether for themselves or for the Museum, during their sojourns in Africa.
Collector / Donor Statements
Virginia Artis . Nancy and George Axinn . Marsha MacDowell and Kurt Dewhurst . James Ellison . Robert Glew . Suzanne Miers . Simon Ottenberg . Barbara Porter-Spaulding . Raymond Silverman . Neal Sobania . Robert Zigler
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