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Inventaire original MEG. Registres tapuscrits, volumes 19 à 59
Registres_tapuscrits/44279.pdf
The picturesque aspects of folklore and exoticism provide the features that distinguish Us from Others. In the late 19th century, the vogue for identities could be seen in Geneva’s antique shops and at the Swiss National Exhibition in 1896.
A certain tradition of the so-called "primitive art" market held that art dealers and collectors "discovered" pieces of art that their makers were unable to appreciate. Aesthetic expertise was confiscated by the West and used to justify its domination of the rest of the world. Denying Others a sense of art is a form of ethnocentrism which has obvious economic advantages.
Oceania room in the Musée d’ethnographie in Mon-Repos in 1931. ©Archives MEG
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