January 17, 2008 through March 7, 2008

What can a wall of textiles tell us? Textiles reveal internal and external truths about a particular culture. The most innocuous dishtowel and the most sublime Oriental rug are both produced within particular cultural contexts and are productive of those contexts. In short, textiles provide multiple lenses through which to analyze politics, economies, colonization, gender relations, popular culture, ethnicity, nationalism, authenticity and tradition.

The Museum Anthropology Program’s Exhibit Development class will present a small exhibit of ASU Museum of Anthropology collection artifacts, including a variety of textiles. Students will present the objects using various approaches and display techniques. During the course of the class, the exhibit will grow as students continue to add displays. Visitors will be encouraged to interact with the objects to discover the connections created with particular objects that bring meaning to their visitor experience.

Download the Collected Impressions Flier
Download the Gallery Guide

From the exhibition:
Collected Impressions explores museum theory and exposes visitors to the process of museum work. Bringing collections into public view is critical to our understanding of how museums work.

What you see before you is an excavation of the ASU anthropological collection where objects and their multiple stories are unearthed. Objects both reveal and conceal many meanings. We have constructed our stories, but there are multiple stories to tell.

Here are a few topics you will find in this exhibition:
• Multifaceted interpretations of history
• Objects that reveal meaning of materiality
• Cultural patrimony or national treasure
• Ethics and responsibilities of museum stewardship
• Acquisition policies, documentation, collections management
• Authority of the museum as a source of reliable information
• Ownership or the legal right of possession

We offer transparency into collections and museum work that we hope will foster and encourage further exploration by our students, faculty and visitors. Join us in creating your own stories.

What do these objects say to you?

Student Curators
Judith Andrews | Peter Banko | April Bojorquez | Mary-Beth Buesgen | Kristi Catanach | Jan Dell | Sarah Elsasser | Andrea Feller | Andrea Frantz | Casandra Hernandez | Kaia Landon | Nate Meyers | Alison Pinto | Dolma Roder | Laura Wenzel | Nancy York

Instructors
Judy Newland | Catherine Nichols