Moving Objects, Dispersed Cultures: Case Studies from China and the Middle East

This course introduces big problems created by the movement, relocation or displacement of objects that are assigned special cultural, artistic, and historical values in new contexts. Such objects are often used as historical sources to justify the present, generating competing claims about the past while also raising problems and questions of preservation, ownership, copyright, and access. This class will ask how objects move from their original place to modern collections. How do they become art or part of cultural heritages? And how do they become historical sources? To address these complex issues, we will examine case studies of “moving objects” from two different geographies and historical contexts, China and the Middle East, in a comparative framework. We will discuss both historical and art historical questions stemming from specific objects and their stories in those two regions. We will talk about objects that were forced to move, relocated, or displaced, thereby their significance and value transform or take on new meanings. The dispersal and replication of moving objects in various collections is especially relevant today, with the creation of different types of digital replicas.