New Blog Post: Visiting Colleagues at the Vatican’s Anima Mundi Museum

A new blog post by Renée Riedler reflects on a recent research visit to the Vatican’s Anima Mundi Ethnological Museum in Rome.

The visit provided an opportunity to reconnect with international colleagues working at the intersection of conservation, museum practice, and community engagement, including Professor Emerita Ellen Pearlstein (UCLA) and museum professionals from the Vatican Museums and the Museo delle Civiltà. A key focus of the discussions was ongoing collaborative research on a group of Central Yup’ik masks from Alaska and the role of Indigenous knowledge in understanding, interpreting, and caring for museum collections.

The blog discusses how museums are increasingly engaging with source communities, highlighting the ways Indigenous perspectives can reshape understandings of authenticity, spirituality, and conservation. It also reflects on the opportunities and challenges of representing collaborative research and community partnerships within museum exhibitions.

Read the full blog post here.