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，重点是共同制定土著文化材料管理的政策和方法。该研究重点关注两个特定的部落社区——蒙巴族和万乔族，询问在这个社会和地理复杂的地区，博物馆藏品的非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着至关重要的作用。在殖民时期，该地区是探险家和收藏家的沃土，他们的文化奖杯陈列在大英博物馆和皮特河博物馆等地，激发了不守规矩、猎头的部落群体的想象力。在后殖民时期，部落博物馆的建立是保护独特部落文化和部落融入新印度国家的催化剂（Elwin 1960）。然而，阿鲁纳恰尔邦博物馆运动的后殖民推动者是非土著公务员和人类学家，他们受过训练来设想印度的复合观念，通过博物馆展览强化部落作为种族“他者”的观念。如今，随着印度巩固印度教民族主义的多数主义政治，阿鲁纳恰尔邦仍然是争取自决的斗争中心，寻求将国家重新定义为同质的印度教国家（Longkumer 2020）。为了纪念 1962 年印度支那冲突，正在修建新的战争博物馆，同时还修建了一些纪念碑，纪念与大英帝国作战的国家“无名英雄”。这些项目在提供新的非殖民叙事的同时，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，促使土著群体越来越多地皈依印度教。与此同时，新的社区和私人博物馆也不断涌现，主张不同形式的土著主权。自 1980 年代以来，一场新的博物馆运动对本土材料的展示提出了挑战，要求归还被盗物品、彻底检查历史藏品以及建立以本土做法为主导的社区博物馆（Guzy 2009；Brown and Peers 2003；Deloria 2018）。研究证明了本土策展实践在重建“被截断的历史”方面的潜力（Sarr 和 Savoy 2018），并赋予社区想象自己未来的能力。然而，由于原住民的复杂历史、社区的分裂和相互竞争的主权概念，这一赋权进程也面临着挑战（Tilche 2021）。在阿鲁纳恰尔邦这样的地区，非殖民主义的方法甚至更加复杂，那里不同形式的外部和内部殖民主义重叠。拟议的研究旨在了解该边境地区部落文化策展的多重历史和当代实践，重点是土著机构和策展。由于地理位置偏远和政治不稳定时期，研究人员很难进入阿鲁纳恰尔邦。因此，拟议的实地调查有必要收集有关该地区博物馆历史发展的第一手材料；以及国家、社区和私人博物馆的当代策展实践，重点关注土著机构。为了实现研究目标，研究人员将在印度进行两个月的档案研究，并在印度阿鲁纳恰尔邦的龙丁和达旺边境地区进行十个月的民族志田野调查。