Objects of negotiation. Tourist art and souvenirs from West Papua in museum collections

Abstract

This thesis investigates and analyses the ways in which souvenirs, or tourist art made for sale by locals for tourists to take home as a memento, have been perceived in the context of a museum collection and can be reevaluated. Drawing on scholarly discussions on tourist art and souvenirs in general, and ideas around authenticity in both tourism experiences and museum objects, this thesis investigates the relationships between guests and hosts which are literally embodied in the tangible product of the souvenir, and are products of the contact zone. I will do this by examining a collection of objects from the western part of the island of New Guinea, Papua, which are currently held at the National Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands.