Confronting a Legacy Collection in a Student-Curated Exhibit

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Reckoning with Legacy Exhibits, Data, and Collections" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Curating legacy archaeological collections poses complex challenges while offering an opportunity to engage students in critical dialogue about museum ethics, provenance research, and the politics of display. Stanford University students in my Spring 2024 course “Introduction to Museum Practice” grappled witih the purpose, potential, and challenges of curating collections. We co-curated the exhibition De la Tierra: Indigenous Ceramics from West Mexico Transcending Time and Space. On view at the Stanford Archaeology Center between May 2024 and April 2025, the exhibit draws from two collections of ceramics objects from West Mexico: ancient burial offerings of unknown provenience likely acquired in part from looting and twentieth-century sculptures made by Purépecha creators in Ocumicho. The juxtaposition of a legacy collection with contemporary ceramics resulted in an exhibit sparking dynamic conversations. Students crafted exhibit signage posing questions like, “Do you think that these burial objects should be on display?” and “What do you think is a responsible way to collect objects?” Based on the outcomes of co-creating De la Tierra with students, I present insights into the intersection of museum practice, pedagogy, and ethics, illustrating how student-led projects can train a new generation of radical museum professionals while pushing the boundaries of curatorial practice.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Reckoning with Legacy Exhibits, Data, and Collections   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52139