TY - JOUR T1 - Religion and material culture at the victoria & albert museum of art and design: the perspectives of diverse faith communities JF - Material Religion Y1 - 2010 A1 - Eithne Nightingale A1 - Marilyn Greene KW - advisory KW - Art KW - Design KW - intercultural KW - interfaith KW - Interpretation KW - Terminology AB -

This article outlines the intercultural, interfaith strand of a three-year HLF-funded program—Capacity Building and Cultural Ownership—working with culturally diverse communities at the V&A Museum of art and design in London. Much of the article is based on the findings of seven advisory groups—Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish—who were invited to identify V&A objects of personal, religious, or cultural significance to them, and comment on issues of use, terminology, display, interpretation, education, and outreach. The groups were made up of a combination of students, academics, religious officials, and practicing and non-practicing members of the respective faiths. The groups contributed some fascinating insights into the contemporary significance and meaning of the collections, many of them “hidden” or in the V&A stores. They uncovered the use of inappropriate or outdated terminology or classification, and expressed their interest in the museum displaying the objects within their religious, spiritual, or cultural context. The article also outlines where the museum has tried to respond to such perspectives but also outlines unresolved tensions in this interface between a museum, which stresses the art and design aspect of collections, and culturally diverse communities for whom these collections are of central relevance and a rich resource for contributing to intercultural and interfaith understanding.

VL - 6 SP - 218-235 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/175183410X12731403772959 ID - doi:10.2752/175183410X12731403772959 M3 - 10.2752/175183410X12731403772959 ER -