Catching Shadows: The Exhibition of Intangible Heritage of Moana Oceania in Lisa Reihana’s <i>in Pursuit of Venus [infected]</i>

Abstract

Since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003, and the increased prevalence of decolonising objectives in museums, curators have been faced with the challenge of how to exhibit intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Existing literature on ICH in museums is sparse and that which relates to exhibition technologies, like film, often focuses on audience effect rather than on content and context of the media or motivations/intentions of curators in their use. This research explores how curators utilise film to exhibit ICH in museums through the case study of Lisa Reihana’s <em>in Pursuit of Venus [infected]</em> (<em>iPOVi</em>). By tracking the creation and exhibition of <em>iPOVi</em>, especially through interviewing various curators of the artwork, it is clear that curators privilege film’s ability to represent complex aspects of culture, like ICH, and utilise the medium to engage with the decolonising objectives of museums. It is ultimately how ICH characterises every facet of <em>iPOVi</em> (the medium, content, and filmmaking and exhibition contexts) that allows it to bridge gaps in discourse surrounding material culture and ICH and exposes the potential for filmmaking to become a heritage process.