Hidden dimensions, broken links: new approaches in the interpretation and value of Southern African artefacts/ jewellery in collections at the V&A and British Museum through critical hybridity

Mardon, Hayley Rose (2022) Hidden dimensions, broken links: new approaches in the interpretation and value of Southern African artefacts/ jewellery in collections at the V&A and British Museum through critical hybridity. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University.

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Abstract

Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial concept of cultural hybridity has been widely used to address the challenges posed by African artefacts/objects in ethnographic collections in Euro-American museums owing to the legacies of Empire and colonialism. Yet when it comes to Southern African artefacts/objects in collections at the V&A and British Museum, widely expressed concern comes from a tendency to exclude these items and to focus on outdated concepts that fail to recognise their complexity in the narratives in a globalised world. Classifications and categorisations are long-established, outdated and need to be overhauled. I argue that new critical approaches are urgently needed to properly value and interpret items in their care and crucially include Southern African perspectives. My contention is that Bhabha’s concept of hybridity is limited by its focus on culture and reliance on simple binaries in these contexts and that this
significant implications. Without a critical evaluation of the methods and approaches in use there is risk of perpetuating a pejorative cycle of neglect. Building on previous investigations of critical hybridity and using content analysis, this study examines Southern African artefacts/jewellery collections at the V&A and British Museum and comparator museums in South Africa and Zimbabwe through empirical research, object analysis, semi-open interviews with museum/gallery professionals and auto-ethnographic narratives from personal experiences as a Black British Zimbabwean diaspora member and jewellery designer-maker. Findings highlighted the continual use of stereotypes, the place for agency and the notion of the ‘third space’ in the museum contexts. Multi-faceted approaches proposed comprise care, dimensions and spheres through the critical engagement with systems and power.

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