Weltmuseum Wien
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around a model of an Edo period (1600–1868)
Daimyo’s lordly residence that was featured at the
Japanese Pavilion of the Universal Exposition in
Vienna in 1873. It can be viewed visually in the
gallery but also visited virtually. Other galleries
deal with their topics critically, including the one
called “In the Shadow of Colonialism” (fi g. 18),
which examines and questions the colonial past as
well as the methods of collecting and display that
museums have practiced over the years. Here too
the Weltmuseum is now following a path that other
ethnology museums have embarked upon. Curators
are increasingly engaging in the critical evaluation
of context and role of the museum in society.
Further to this, the Weltmuseum is pursuing a
strategy of “de-colonization” through collaboration
with artists and researchers in residence,
who question collecting, archiving, exhibition,
and presentation techniques. That strategy has
informed its two initial temporary exhibitions.
Staying with Trouble by American artist Rajkamal
Kahlon, which is made up of a series of
graphic works that are the fruit of her two months
at the Weltmuseum Wien spent working on the
museum’s historical documents. The Master Narrative
by Austrian artist Lisl Ponger, whose work
is infl uenced by institutional critique, centers on
questions of racism, stereotypes, and the development
and maintenance of perception.
However, what most distinguishes the Weltmuseum
from comparable institutions and their approach
to presentation is the well-known Wienbezug
(relationship to Vienna) focus that is dear to its
director: Having had no overseas colonies, the very
the presence of non-Western objects in Vienna poses
specifi c questions. This is the issue that curators
have decided to examine and document in every gallery.
This acts as a common thread throughout the
permanent collection, and the curators have gone to
great lengths to explain why and in what historical
context any given object or collection found its way
to Vienna. Using this approach as a springboard, the
result is an in-depth refl ection on the history of Austria’s
view of and relationship with the non-Western
societies and the “Other.” Thanks to the age and
wealth of the collection it assembled in the context
FiG. 18 (below):
Gallery view of “in the
shadow of Colonialism.“