Episode 11: Encountering the Imperial Museum

I spoke with Sarita Echavez See about her 2017 book “The Filipino Primitive” which traces stolen Filipino objects in the United States that have served as the foundation of power and knowledge in museums. One level her book is about two very specific museums, but in reality, the points she makes can be applied to any similar museum that considers itself to have an ethnological collection. I was particularly interested in the concept of the imperial museum how a museum reflects subconscious prejudice.

Image Credit: Display cases E3-E8, Philippine exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor. Photography by Mark Gjukich.

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