Nomadic Artefacts

The title relates to the two main facets of this volume: first the examination of the trajectories of certain ethnographic objects and their provenance right up to their present depositories in museum collections, and secondly the development of ethnographic collections in Austria, specifically the Weltmuseum Wien, as well as the establishment and transformations of museums in Mongolia. The effects of the political repressions on scientists, museums and temples are documented. The loose contributions in the second half of the book under the heading “Travelogue” reflect the memory of the diverse sites and intersections of Mongolia in kaleidoscopic fragments. An essayistic photo-collage, narrations on objects, a poem by Jamtsyn Badraa and a ballad by Christoph Ransmayr written for this book and the eponymous exhibition illustrate the journey through the multilayered memories and imaginations.