An Ethnographic Study of the Indigenous Museum Movement of Arunachal Pradesh, India (Provisional Project Title)

印度阿鲁纳恰尔邦土著博物馆运动的民族志研究（临时项目名称）

• 批准号: 2878176
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Leicester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2878176
• 关键词: Ethnographic; Study; Indigenous; Museum; Movement

The proposed research aims to examine practices of indigenous curation in India's Northeast region of Arunachal Pradesh, with a focus on co-developing policies and methodologies for the management of indigenous cultural material. Focused on the two particular tribal communities, Monpa and Wancho, the research asks what a de-colonial approach to museum collections might look like in this socially and geographically complex region. Museums and material culture continue to play a crucial role in the struggle for identity and sovereignty in Arunachal Pradesh. During the colonial period, the region was a rich ground for explorers and collectors whose cultural trophies, on display at the British Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum among others, contributed to the imagination of unruly and head-hunting tribal groups. In the post-colonial period, tribal museums were set up as catalysts for the preservation of unique tribal cultures and tribal integration into a new Indian nation (Elwin 1960). However, the post-colonial agents of the museum movement in Arunachal Pradesh were non-indigenous civil servants and anthropologists trained to envision the composite idea of India, with tribes as ethnic 'others' reinforced through museum displays. Today Arunachal Pradesh continues to be the centre of struggles for self-determination as India consolidates a majoritarian politics of Hindu nationalism that seeks to redefine the country as a homogeneous Hindu nation (Longkumer 2020). New war museums are being built to commemorate the 1962 Indo-China conflict, alongside memorials for the 'unsung heroes' of the state who fought against the British empire. While offering new de-colonial narratives, these projects are also unleashing new complex processes of internal colonialism led by the Indian state, fomenting the growing conversion of indigenous groups to Hindu religion. At the same time, new community and private museums are also emerging asserting different forms of indigenous sovereignty. Since the 1980's a new museum movement has challenged the display of indigenous materials, demanding the repatriation of stolen objects, the overhaul of historical collections and the setup of community museums led by indigenous practices (Guzy 2009; Brown and Peers 2003; Deloria 2018). Research demonstrated the potential of practices of indigenous curation for rebuilding 'truncated histories' (Sarr and Savoy 2018), and empowering communities to imagine their own future. However, there have also been challenges to this empowerment process with complex histories of indigeneity, the fragmentation of community and competing notions of sovereignty (Tilche 2021). De-colonial approaches are even more complex in regions like Arunachal Pradesh, where different forms of external and internal colonialism overlap. The proposed research seeks to understand the multiple histories and contemporary practices of curating tribal culture in this border region, with a focus on indigenous agency and curatorship. Arunachal Pradesh been difficult for researchers to access due to geographical remoteness and periods of political instability. The proposed fieldwork is therefore necessary to gather first hand material on the historical development of museums in the region; and on contemporary practices of curatorship in state as well as community and private museums with a focus on indigenous agency. In order to achieve research objectives, the researcher will conduct two months of archival research in India and ten months of ethnographic fieldwork in Longding and Tawang borderland districts of Arunachal Pradesh, India.

拟议的研究旨在研究印度东北部阿鲁纳恰尔邦地区的土著策展实践，重点是共同制定管理土著文化材料的政策和方法。该研究聚焦于两个特定的部落社区，Monpa和Wancho，询问在这个社会和地理复杂的地区，博物馆藏品的去殖民化方法可能是什么样子。博物馆和物质文化继续在阿鲁纳恰尔邦的身份和主权斗争中发挥关键作用。在殖民地时期，该地区是探险家和收藏家的沃土，他们的文化战利品在大英博物馆和皮特河博物馆等地展出，为不守规矩和猎头部落群体的想象力做出了贡献。在后殖民时期，部落博物馆的建立是为了保护独特的部落文化和部落融入一个新的印第安民族（埃尔文1960）。然而，阿鲁纳恰尔邦博物馆运动的后殖民代理人是非土著公务员和人类学家，他们接受过培训，可以想象印度的综合概念，部落是通过博物馆展览加强的种族“他者”。今天，阿鲁纳恰尔邦仍然是争取自决的斗争中心，因为印度巩固了印度教民族主义的多数主义政治，试图将该国重新定义为一个同质的印度教国家（Longchier 2020）。正在建造新的战争博物馆来纪念1962年印度支那冲突，同时还为该州与大英帝国作战的“无名英雄”建造纪念馆。在提供新的去殖民化叙事的同时，这些项目也释放了由印度国家领导的新的复杂的内部殖民主义进程，促使越来越多的土著群体皈依印度教。与此同时，新的社区和私人博物馆也在兴起，主张不同形式的土著主权。自20世纪80年代以来，一场新的博物馆运动对土著材料的展示提出了挑战，要求归还被盗物品，对历史藏品进行全面改革，并建立以土著实践为主导的社区博物馆（Guzy 2009; Brown and Peers 2003; Deloria 2018）。研究表明，土著策展实践在重建“截断的历史”（Sarr和萨沃伊，2018年）方面具有潜力，并使社区能够想象自己的未来。然而，这一赋权进程也面临着挑战，因为土著人的历史复杂，社区分裂，主权观念相互竞争（Tilche 2021）。在阿鲁纳恰尔邦这样的地区，去殖民化的方法甚至更加复杂，在那里，不同形式的外部和内部殖民主义相互重叠。拟议的研究旨在了解在这个边境地区策划部落文化的多重历史和当代实践，重点是土著机构和策展人。阿鲁纳恰尔邦由于地理位置偏远和政治不稳定时期，研究人员很难进入。因此，有必要开展拟议的实地工作，以收集关于该地区博物馆历史发展的第一手材料;以及关于以土著机构为重点的国家、社区和私人博物馆的当代馆长做法的第一手材料。为了实现研究目标，研究人员将在印度进行为期两个月的档案研究，并在印度阿鲁纳恰尔邦的龙丁和达旺边境地区进行为期十个月的民族志实地考察。