The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Heritage, and Death (Routledge Handbooks on Museums, Galleries and Heritage)

This book provides a comprehensive examination of death, dying, and human remains in museums and heritage sites around the world. Presenting a diverse range of contributions from scholars, practitioners, and artists, the book reminds us that death and the dead body are omnipresent in museum and heritage spaces. Chapters appraise collection practices and their historical context, present global perspectives and potential resolutions, and suggest how death and dying should be presented to the public. Acknowledging that professionals in the galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM) fields are engaging in vital discussions about repatriation and anti-colonialist narratives, the book includes reflections on a variety of deathscapes that are at the forefront of the debate. Taking a multivocal approach, the handbook provides a foundation for debate as well as a reference for how the dead are treated within the public arena. Most important, perhaps, the book highlights best practices and calls for more ethical frameworks and strategies for collaboration, particularly with descendant communities. The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Heritage, and Death will be useful to all individuals working with, studying, and interested in curation and exhibition at museums and heritage sites around the world. It will be of particular interest to those working in the fields of heritage, museum studies, death studies, archaeology, anthropology, sociology, and history. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Figures Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction Introduction Background Introduction to the Volume Volume Structure Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part 1: Acquisition, Curation, and Conservation of the Dead 1. Historical Contexts of Bodies, Display, and Spectacle Introduction A Brief History of Museums Human Remains: What Comprises Corporeal Remains and Are They Objects? Traveling Exhibitions and Human Displays "Freakshows" World's Fairs, Expositions, and "Human Zoos" Human Remains in Museums Today Lessons for Today's Museums Conclusion Notes Bibliography 2. Conserving the Humanity of Human Remains Stopping Decomposition Caring for Human Remains Conclusion Notes Bibliography 3. A Museum Archive: An Unexpected Final Resting Place but One Full of Promise Introduction Museum of London Archaeological Archive and Centre for Human Bioarchaeology Conservation Archaeological Archive the Final Resting Place Notes Bibliography 4. Striking a Balance: Preserving, Curating, and Investigating Human Remains from the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily Introduction Preservation and Curation Scientific Investigation Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography 5. The Handling of the Remains of the Ancestors in Peru: Realities, Challenges, and Wishes Overview Introduction Testimonies from Curatorial Staff Northern Coast Central Coast South Coast Central Highlands Southern Highlands Conclusion Notes Bibliography 6. Engaging with Death in Museums and Collections Introduction Death in the Museum Space Death Topics in Practice Exhibition Curation and Research Public Engagement Conclusion and Future Challenges Notes Bibliography Part 2: Displaying the Dead: Exhibitions and Ethical Considerations 7. Education, Preservation and Reconciliation: The J.L. Shellshear Museum and the Preservation and Display of Human Remains Introduction The Shellshear Museum: History and Context Indigenous Remains and the Australian Context Narrabeen Man: A Case for the Display of Remains Conclusion - Towards a Respectful Curatorial Relationship? Notes Bibliography 8. The Mummies of Guanajuato: The Tension between Ethics and Ambition Notes Bibliography Other Sources 9. The Cost of Civil Rights: Loss, Grief, and Death at US Civil Rights Museums Notes Bibliography 10. Changing People, Changing Content: New Perspectives on Past Peoples Introduction Prehistory Spaces in English Museums Visualising Past People People in Place Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography 11. Transforming Memento Mori: A Contemporary Lens Introduction Death and Grief in the Visual Arts An Artist's Inspiration Memento Mori Memento Morididdle Conclusion Notes Bibliography 12. The Hollywood Museum of Death: The Commodification of the Maiden, Criminal and the Corpse Museum of Death Origins The Charles Manson Room Synthetic Maiden The Black Dahlia Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part 3: Decolonisation and Shifting the Perspective in Museums and Heritage 13. Papuan Pasts: The Origins of Papuan Human Remains Collections in the World's Museums, the Issue of Repatriation, and Telling New Stories with Skeletal Data Introduction The Study Area Pre-Contact Trade History of Collecting Human Remains along the Papuan Coast 19th and 20th Century European Collecting Second World War Professional Archaeology Human Remains as Artefacts from the Papuan Coast Papuan Collections Held Overseas Repatriation and Ownership Discussion Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography 14. Searching for Identities through Archaeological Human Remains in Turkey Introduction Theoretical Framework: The Authorised Heritage Discourse and Making of Identities A New National Identity Written on Bones: Embracing the Anatolians Rediscovering the Ottoman Roots Current Perceptions Surrounding Archaeological Human Remains in Turkey The "Authorised" View The Public View Ethno-Genesis Once Again? Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography 15. Entangled Entitlements and Shuar Tsantsa (shrunken heads) Introduction Tsantsa The tsantsa in the Pitt Rivers Museum Taking Heads as Trophies Made for Trade? Proyecto Tsantsa How and Why Were Tsantsa Made? Contextualising Tsantsa? Critical Changes in the Museum Next Steps Conclusion Notes Bibliography 16. Julia Pastrana's Long Journey Home Julia Pastrana's First One Hundred and 69 Years Changing the Narrative to Restore Julia Pastrana's Rights and Memory Julia Pastrana's Ten Year Repatriation Journey Notes Bibliography 17. Egyptian Mummified Remains: Communities of Descent and Practice Introduction Framing Considerations Defining Source Communities: A View from Egypt Egyptian Perspectives on Displaying "Mummies" The Golden "Mummies" Parade: Counter Public Debates Egypt's Dispersed Heritage: Human Remains in Comics An Internal Conflict: Egyptian Community of Practice Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography 18. The Curated Ossilegium: Museum Practices as Death and Mourning Rituals Eternal Rest on Display As Above, So Below Greeting the Skull Defining Respectful Care Caring for the Unknown Dead Building Connections with the Displayed Dead Towards a Continuum of Death Care Notes Bibliography Part 4: Deathscapes and Heritage 19. From Dead Places to Places of the Dead: The Memorial Power of Battlefields, Ruins, and Burials in the Warscapes of Spain and the Western Front Introduction Battlefields Cemeteries Ruined Settlements and Dead Places Mass Graves Discussion: Materiality, Identity, and Temporality Conclusion Notes Bibliography 20. From Trauma to Tourism: Balancing the Needs of the Living and the Dead The Need for Social Consensus Consumerism and Kitschification Something Other Concluding Thoughts Notes Bibliography 21. Death, Memory, and Power: Public Memorial Culture of Moscow Necropolises Introduction Cemetery Research Approaches Cemeteries and Mortal Culture in the USSR Novodevichy Cemetery: A Story of the Country's First Elite Cemetery Conclusion Notes Bibliography 22. Not Their Heritage Theme Park: Honouring the Outcast at Crossbones Graveyard Inside the Gates of Crossbones Graveyard Maintaining the Grunge The Politics of Curation Outcast Dead (and Alive) Intersectional Heritage Spaces Notes Bibliography 23. The Ghosts of Kūkai: Virtual Heritage and Landscapes of Death in Japan's Shikoku Pilgrimage The Ghosts of Kūkai as Companion and Oneself Kūkai's Death and "Long-Term Samadhi" The Virtual Shikoku Pilgrimage - Challenges in Representing These Aspects of Kūkai in the Digital Pilgrimage - What Inspirations Can We Use? Notes Bibliography 24. A Shadow Pandemic: Protest, Mourning, and Grassroots Memorialization in Mexico City Femicide Protest and Mourning Grassroots Memorialization Conclusions Notes Bibliography Part 5: Public Education and Engagement in Museums and Heritage 25. Engagement That Works: Practical Insights for Inviting the Public into Cemeteries A Place within a Place Youth Education Tours for Adults Scandals and Scoundrels True Crime of Bygone Times Events Tips and Tricks The Future Conclusion Notes Bibliography 26. Talking about the D Word: Public Engagement in a Place of the Dead Background of Arnos Vale Cemetery The Purpose of Garden Cemeteries Places for the Living as well as the Dead Decline and Regeneration Organisational Structure For the Improvement of the Great Masses of Society - Public Engagement in AVC Cemetery Tours Public Talks Engagement with Young People Arts Conclusion Notes Bibliography 27. The Death Positive Library Designing Death Positive Futures with Libraries Books, Mortality, and the Development of the Death Positive Library Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography 28. Haunted Houses and Horrific History: Ghost Tours at Historic House Museums Historic House Museums and Interpretive Programs Why Ghosts and Haunts at Historic House Museums? Successful Programs and Considerations at Historic House Museums Authenticity and Truth "Beneath the Dignity" Ethical Challenges Case Study: Blount Mansion Conclusions Notes Bibliography 29. Walking, Public Engagement, and Pedagogy: Mobile Death Studies Introduction Thanatological Imagination and Public Engagement Mobile Pedagogy and the York Death and Culture Walk Walking and Public Engagement through Mobile Pedagogy Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography Part 6: Death Studies and Heritage in Practice 30. The Cemetery Church of All Saints with the Ossuary Introduction to the Church and the Ossuary History of the Church and the Ossuary Specific Details about the Skeletons and the Decorations The Increase in Tourism at the Sedlec Ossuary The Photography Ban and Why It Was Implemented The Future of the Sedlec Ossuary Conclusion Notes Bibliography 31. Memento Mori Exhibition from the Dominican Crypt, Vác (Március 15 Square, 19), Hungary Introduction A Step into the 18th Century - The Uncovering of the Dominican Crypt of Vác The Views on Death of the 18th-Century Burghers of Vác, Their Deaths and Burials Burghers of Vác - Mummies of Vác Special Funerary Objects, Object Types from the Crypt Coffins Burial Shrouds Grave Goods and Sacred Objects Showcasing the Life and Death of 18th-Century People through the Ars Memorandi and the Memento Mori Exhibition Interpretation and Experiences of the Exhibition Summary Conclusion Notes Bibliography 32. Our Queerly Departed - Researching, Remembering and Respecting the LGBTQ+ Deceased Author's Note Museums of People Methods Brompton Cemetery Arnos Vale Tower Hamlets Cemetery Epitaph A Letter to Anna Letitia Waring: A Spinster Late of This Parish Notes Bibliography 33. Close Encounters with Death and Disease: Young Visitors' Perspectives at the Mütter Medical History Museum Medical Museums: A Brief Review The Mütter Museum Methods Discussion Interpretive Texts Activities Exhibit Design Conclusion Notes Bibliography 34. The Use of CT Scan for the Construction of Mummy Replicas for Museography: Social and Ethical Perspectives Human Bodies' Scientific Investigation and Its Exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History Alternatives to the Exhibition of Human Bodies Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part 7: Concluding Remarks Notes Bibliography Bibliography Index