This 2 ECTS course organised by the Centre for Religion and Heritage (Groningen) centres on religious objects that have been permanently or temporarily musealized. The tension between the secular space of the museum and the religious nature and uses of many of the objects they display and preserve has been noted by several scholars. Much contemporary writing on religion in museums tends however to centre on the social and performative dimensions of the museum space, rather than on the material aspects of the objects themselves.

This short course poses fresh questions on the status of such objects by exploring the intersection between religious artworks and transcultural approaches to material and visual culture. How can attending to the material nature of the religious objects (both those classed as ethnographic objects, and those consider art objects, or treasures) invite new insights into the agency of the religious object in the museum? What does de-musealization (through temporary loan or re-use) imply about the status of the object, and its keepers? What is the significance of collections of religious objects within the context of contemporary transcultural societies?

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SIGN UP DEADLINE MARCH 3rd