博物馆藏品的除藏与归还

Deaccessioning and Repatriation

博物馆处于一种变动不居的状态,正逐步偏离其原来所构想的发展方向——致力于永久收藏和保存有价值的物品和标本。但是,现在这一长期持有藏品的发展方向正受到根源于博物馆内外因素的挑战,促使博物馆另辟蹊径,根据其与所服务社区之间的变动关系来管理藏品。特别是,土著民族要求归还其文化物品(这些物品通常是在可疑的情况下被盗用的)的请求越来越多,迫使博物馆重新调整自己的思路,准备适当的政策,并付诸实施。随着藏品归还成为名副其实的藏品除藏过程,博物馆日益置身于道德和伦理的领导位置,纠正过去所犯下的错误,促进合作,为社会的公平、和谐作出努力。

Museums are finding themselves in a state of change,moving away from the direction for which they were originally conceived,that which focused on the collecting and holding of valued objects and specimens in perpetuity.The longheld sense of permanence ascribed to the collections is being challenged by factors originating both from within the museum,and from without.This is causing museums to examine alternatives to managing their collections in light of their ongoing relationship with the communities they serve.In particular,increasing demands from indigenous peoples for the return of their cultural materials,often appropriated under questionable circumstances,are compelling museums to realign their thinking,prepare suitable policies,and implement courses of action.With repatriation being the new reality for the process of deaccessioning,museums are in a position to provide the moral and ethical leadership to reconcile wrongs perpetrated in the past and promote partnerships for a more even handed social harmony.