Unpacking Culture: Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds [Paperback]

Ruth B. Phillips (Editor), Christopher B. Steiner (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0520207971 | ISBN-13: 978-0520207974 | Edition: 1

Tourist art production is a global phenomenon and is increasingly recognized as an important and authentic expression of indigenous visual traditions. These thoughtful, engaging essays provide a comparative perspective on the history, character, and impact of tourist art in colonized societies in three areas of the world: Africa, Oceania, and North America. Ranging broadly historically and geographically, Unpacking Culture is the first collection to bring together substantial case studies on this topic from around the world.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"An outstanding set of studies that work well with each other to produce truly substantial and rich insights into the making and consuming of art in the colonial and post-colonial world."--Susan S. Bean, Curator, Peabody Essex Museum

From the Back Cover

"An outstanding set of studies that work well with each other to produce truly substantial and rich insights into the making and consuming of art in the colonial and post-colonial world."-Susan S. Bean, Curator, Peabody Essex Museum --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 435 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (January 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520207971
• ISBN-13: 978-0520207974
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,099,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great collection on ethnic art & culture, November 28, 2011

By 

Frederic (Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unpacking Culture: Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds (Paperback)

Although originally published in 1999, this volume remains one of the best collections on commodified ethnic arts - that is to say, ethnic arts that have been commodified through tourism and collecting. The pieces were all produced for this volume (some initially for a conference, those supplemented by others solicited to broaden the scope of the published volume), and the selection, editing and production are excellent. After two introductory essays, the contents are divided into six sections: Constructing the Other: Production as Negotiation; Authenticity: The Problem of Mechanical Reproduction; Artistic Innovation and the Discourses of Identity; (Re)Fashioning Gender and Stereotype in Touristic Production; Collecting Culture and Cultures of Collecting; and Staging Tourist Art: Contexts for Cultural Conservation. Most chapters are illustrated, with B&W photographs that are well reproduced. The volume would be of interest for courses or individual reading in tourism and tourist arts, ethnic art, and the commodification of traditional cultures.

While North America is most strongly represented (Inuit, Karuk, Lakota, Pueblo, NWC, Huron), other areas include Sepik art of PNG, printed images from India, batak textiles of Indonesia, Samburu and Mangbetu arts from Africa, Chinese textiles, and Marquesan carvings and tapa cloth. While questions of authenticity and commodification are (unsurprisingly) central to most of the discussions, they do not overwhelm nor do they seem completely dated. One of my favorite pieces, "My Father's Business" by Frank Ettawageshik, provides a rarely available Native perspective on the trade.