Thirteenth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, presentations of Syrian art have proliferated in cultural institutions across the US. This paper begins by drawing a parallel between displays of Islamic art in American museums during the aftermath of 9/11 and more recent museum initiatives that contextualize their programming within the crises of war, destruction, and displacement unfolding in current-day Syria. The paper considers three case studies on museum representations of Syrian heritage. Each focuses on a different Syrian city (Palmyra; Damascus; Aleppo) within a different historical time period (Antiquity; Modern; Contemporary / Future), but they all constitute projects of spatial reconstruction. While earlier exhibitions in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks focused on religion and aspired to combat Islamophobia, the dominant rhetoric of post-2011 programming on Syria relates to the displacement/destruction of material culture and the displacement/resettlement of refugees. By juxtaposing these three case studies, the paper demonstrates how curatorial strategies of narrativization and framing simultaneously assert the relevance of the museum for twenty-first century audiences and persist with anachronistic museum paradigms. Situating these examples within questions posed by postcolonial theorists and subaltern scholars opens up a discussion of the ethical considerations prompted by the intersection of art history, curatorial practice, and violent conflict. Lastly, the paper suggests how, as museums begin responding to global events at a quicker pace, there is a greater urgency to understand and challenge the relationship between art discourses, methods of display, and modes of knowledge production within our increasingly displaced world.