ABSTRACT
Museums, like anthropology, have experienced a version of the so-called ‘crisis of representation’.1 Questions have been raised about the legitimacy of established styles and conventions of exhibition, about authority and authorisation, about silences and marginalisation, and about accountability and audience. As in anthropology, these are contested matters. And as in anthropology, they take place within a politicised context in which practice is being increasingly subject to scrutiny and formalisation through such cultural devices as ‘performance indicators’, ‘public accountability’, ‘formative and summative evaluation’, ‘peer review’, ‘managerial restructuring’ and ‘mission statements’.
