When contemporary design constructs new narratives: A look at the art of the ancient Americas installation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Abstract

In 2008, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's collection of pre-Columbian artifacts was re-installed in a gallery designed by contemporary artist, Jorge Pardo. The history of these ancient objects dates back over three thousand years, but new meanings emerged and critical issues unfolded when these culturally displaced objects were staged within Pardo's flamboyant design. This collision of indigenous and contemporary cultural narratives is examined on three levels: the problems inherent in the constructed knowledge of ancient objects; the changes that have taken place in systems of ethnographic display; and the critical reception of Pardo's design and its implications in terms of a politics of display. This thesis argues for the need to respect cultural patrimony, but the value of critical awareness raised by Pardo's design intervention is also acknowledged.