Emma Martin
National Museums, Liverpool
Developing a 21st century art collection in a global context
The canons of art history have consistently upheld the hierarchy of, fine art, followed by decorative art and finally ethnographic or folk art. Whether curator, academic or producer we continually struggle to define the artist and their art in a post colonial context, seamlessly and often unconsciously interchanging the titles, ‘artist’, ‘craftsperson’, ‘ maker’, ‘artisan’ and ‘designer’ to define and separate one practice or culture from the other.
Henry Glassie in his extended essay ‘The spirit of Folk Art’ debates the many facets of art and argues that in the West, ‘A definition of a sort emerges as we list the media we consider to be art. Paintings are art. Sculpture is art. Pottery is not... a pot would remain craft, no matter how excellent’. This is reflected in the 19th century colonial nomenclature, incorporated into museum classification systems and the positioning of gallery spaces within institutions, which perpetuate the myth of the superiority of Western art, culture and learning.
With this in mind, how can the taxonomies of the 19th century be re-defined in the global context of the 21st century? Using, as a basis, the collecting policies of and recent dialogues between the ethnology, decorative art and fine art departments of National Museums Liverpool this paper will debate a number of issues raised and will focus on the questions asked and decisions made by curators when selecting and classifying art for permanent collections.
