Cette recherche interroge le champ des objets ethnographiques au prisme de leur circulation entre deux médiateurs situés entre leur production et leur réception : les musées d’ethnographie et les marchés de l’art. Aucune recherche scientifique ne s’est jusqu’à maintenant penchée en profondeur sur les relations entretenues entre ces deux intermédiaires dans le champ de l’art africain et océanien, si ce n’est pour décrire ou critiquer le cas précis de la fondation du Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac.Mobilisant l’anthropologie et la muséologie, ma recherche est basée sur un travail de terrain intensif auprès des galeries, des maisons de ventes aux enchères et des musées en Suisse, en France et en Belgique entre 20013 et 2017. L’analyse, fondamentalement compréhensive, montre les enjeux territoriaux à l’œuvre et souligne l’impact d’une montée de l’événementiel tant du côté des musées que des marchés. Ma recherche dresse un portrait du marché, de son fonctionnement et de ses hiérarchies à l’heure actuelle et propose une typologie des différentes relations et acteurs afin de comprendre le processus de fixation de la valeur des objets. Sur un marché où domine la spéculation et une grande part d’arbitraire, je montre que cette valeur est intimement liée à la maîtrise de l’information. Finalement, l’analyse met en évidence les « prêts-à-penser » et processus développés par l’entier des acteurs du champ pour rationaliser une partie de ces pratiques spéculatives. J’espère souligner dans cette recherche les formes nouvelles de production, d’appropriation, de consommation et de valorisation de l’altérité par notre société aujourd’hui. / This PhD thesis presents the valuation of ethnographic object through the prism of their circulation between two stakeholders : art markets and ethnographic museums. No scientific research has so far looked in depth at the relation between this two actors in the tribal art’s field, except to describe or criticise the specific case of the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac’s foundation.My research mobilising anthropology and museology is based on intensive fieldwork with galleries, auction houses and museums in Switzerland, France and Belgium between 2013 and 2017. The comprehensive analysis shows the territorial issues between this different stakeholders and highlights the increase in events both in museums and markets. My research also draws a portrait of the market, its functionning and its hierarchies and proposes a typology of the different relations and actors. The main objective was to understand the process of fixing an object’s value. In a market dominated by speculation and a lot of arbitrariness, I highlight that this value is intrinsically linked to the control of information. Finally, the analysis shows the « how-to-think » and processes developped by all the actors in the field to rationalise some of these speculative practices. I hope I have emphasised in this work the new forms of production, appropriation, consumption and the valorisation of otherness by our society today.

This thesis aims to illustrate and explain contemporary interactions between Western ethnographic museums and broader society. It is based on one central case study, the Slovene Ethnographic Museum (SEM) in Ljubljana, Slovenia. A majority of informants expressed a wish for the museum to be a platform for dialogue. In connection to their visions, this thesis discusses the potential of ethnographic museums to work towards promoting and facilitating inclusivity and social change as well as some tensions that arise from this development. This is done through an analysis of ethnographic data on museum employees’ views on the relevance and responsibilities of the museum and its status as a cultural and scientific institute. New museology and actor-network theory are used as primary analytical tools. A responsibility to represent ‘correctly’ in the museum is related to the influence that tangible and intangible heritages, as actants, can have on society. It is argued that cultural heritage could be instrumental in achieving positive social change. However, there is a core tension between the envisioned position of the museum and the power hierarchy that it maintains through its identity as a scientific institute that shapes dominant knowledge.

Both Temple and Tomb is a dissertation in two parts. The first part is an examination and analysis of a collection of 'colonial' sculptures on permanent display in the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren Belgium. The second part is a reflection on the author's own paintings, drawings and film and an examination of the critical potential of these images in challenging the colonial narratives of the RMCA. Part I presents two arguments. The first is that European aesthetic codes have been used to legitimize the conquest of the Congo and to award sanction to a voyeuristic gaze. The second is that the organization of the sculptures of Africans (and European females) into carefully managed spaces and relationships results in the creation of erotically-charged formations that are intended to afford pleasure to male European spectators. Part II examines the strategies used in Re-Turning the Shadows to disrupt (neo)colonial patterns of viewing that have become ritual and 'naturalized'. Against RMCA narratives that pay homage to the objectivity of science and research, the paintings and film present images that explore multiple subjectivities, mythologizing impulses, and metaphoric allusions. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)

Both Temple and Tomb is a dissertation in two parts. The first part is an examination and analysis of a collection of 'colonial' sculptures on permanent display in the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren Belgium. The second part is a reflection on the author's own paintings, drawings and film and an examination of the critical potential of these images in challenging the colonial narratives of the RMCA. Part I presents two arguments. The first is that European aesthetic codes have been used to legitimize the conquest of the Congo and to award sanction to a voyeuristic gaze. The second is that the organization of the sculptures of Africans (and European females) into carefully managed spaces and relationships results in the creation of erotically-charged formations that are intended to afford pleasure to male European spectators. Part II examines the strategies used in Re-Turning the Shadows to disrupt (neo)colonial patterns of viewing that have become ritual and 'naturalized'. Against RMCA narratives that pay homage to the objectivity of science and research, the paintings and film present images that explore multiple subjectivities, mythologizing impulses, and metaphoric allusions. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)