No. 32
Nomads and Museums

Research articles

Museums and Nomads: Special section introduction

Published 2026-08-08

Eric Thrift
University of Winnipeg

Abstract

This editorial commentary introduces a special section on 'Museums and Nomads', exploring how museum collections and exhibitions represent Mongolian pastoral heritage. Contributions to this issue describe four prevalent modes of museum representation: historic sites displayed in situ, vitrine-based ethnographic typologies, patriotic dioramas, and state-sponsored commemorative spaces. Interrogating the taxonomic schemes that classify herding societies and inform such representations, we can explore how evolutionary frameworks, orientalist essentialization, and state-authorized heritage discourses have historically depoliticized nomadic agency or co-opted pastoral identity for political projects. Ultimately, micro-historical analyses of local material culture, such as the Darkhad cradle (bööv), can advance decolonial, participatory museological frameworks that position nomadic pastoralists as active agents.

Keywords

Museums, Nomads

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