Cultures, Contexts & Collectors

Every object has a story. Their stories become entwined with people as they are bought, sold, forgotten, found, or passed along. The objects in this exhibit all have one thing in common: they were recently donated to the Lam Museum of Anthropology. Before this, the objects came from a diversity of cultural traditions and time periods. Their stories continue to develop as the Museum researches, conserves, and exhibits them.

The stories behind these objects are so rich that they can’t be told in a single label. In this exhibit, each label focuses on either the cultural meaning that the object had when it was made and used, the changing social context of the object, or how the object was collected—and eventually donated to the Lam Museum.

The objects’ labels in this exhibit are adapted from research papers written by students in the Introduction to Museum Studies course during the fall 2019 semester. Dr. Andrew Gurstelle provided additional curatorial support. Our gratitude to the Lam Museum’s many donors who graciously responded to student inquiries about their donations.