Publisher's Synopsis
Following a process lasting over 15 years, during which all its permanent departments were reorganised, the Tropics Museum has decided to hold a symposium to present the results and to ask the public what the role of an ethnographic museum should actually encompass. With roots stemming back to the colonial era, a museum of this type has seen its objectives and purpose change radically over the years. Today museums must reconsider their role in society: what purpose do museums of cultural anthropology serve? What do the visiting public want to see and what should the museums offer them? What should the museums be collecting and how should the collection be presented so that everyone that considers the heritage as their own can also make use of it?
