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Tag: Mission Museum Steyl

Exploring the Locations used in Rituals of the Dead

Exploring the Locations used in Rituals of the Dead

My latest art-related mystery, Rituals of the Dead, is set in Papua and the Netherlands – two nations on opposite sides of the globe yet connected by a colonial past.   Dutch New Guinea Dutch New Guinea – as the Papua Province of Indonesia was known until 1963 – was considered to be one of the last truly wild frontiers. The seemingly impenetrable interior and extreme weather, combined with rumors of headhunting and a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, enticed many explorers wishing…

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The Colonial Origins of Ethnographic Museums and Rituals of the Dead

The Colonial Origins of Ethnographic Museums and Rituals of the Dead

Since finishing Rituals of the Dead, I have noticed an influx in news reports about the restitution of ethnic artifacts – a topic central to my latest mystery. So we are clear, I am not referring to antiquities such as the Parthenon Marbles (or Elgin Marbles, depending on your nationality). I’m talking about shrunken heads, painted shields, feathered headdresses, carved ancestor sculptures, ritual masks, and the like. The same objects currently filling western museums dedicated to anthropology and ethnography. At…

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