Technology Becomes the Object

Abstract

The inaugural exhibits created for the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington DC were met with emotive public debates as to their success or failure to change the ways in which Native American cultures are portrayed in the USA. These debates, however, overlooked the significance of the use of electronic media in the NMAI galleries, their effect on the role of material culture and the subsequent shifts in how the collections were not only displayed, but also experienced by visitors. This inquiry draws on these exhibits for a re-examination of the categories of art/artefact and original/duplicate, exploring how electronic media has transformed the interpretation of the museum `object'. It employs interviews with NMAI staff to discuss the history and philosophy underlying the introduction of electronic media, and with visitors to contextualize these changes in the interpretation of collections from a broader perspective. In conclusion, it considers the confluence of Native, postcolonial and mediated knowledges presented by NMAI, and the possibility that media technology itself has become the museum object.