Translating Museums

Shaila Bhatti is currently an Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Anthropology, University College London, where she also gained her PhD and held an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship. Over the last decade, she has conducted ethnographic research on museums in India and Pakistan with doctoral research focusing on the Lahore Museum in Pakistan. Her research and publications explore the history of museums in South Asia as well as their contemporary significance as moments of cultural and visual encounters for society in terms of collections, curatorial activities, exhibitionary practices and visitor interpretation. Her interests extend beyond museum anthropology to include the material and visual cultures of South Asia and local notions of cultural heritage, history and identity.

Chapter 1: Museums in Translation; Chapter 2: Colonial Mementos to Postcolonial Imaginings; Chapter 3: Museum Archons 1; Chapter 4: Visiting the Museum; Chapter 5: Nokta Nazar 1 of the Lahore Museum's ‘Audience'