Product Description: We have long recognized that many objects in museums were originally on display in temples, shrines, or monasteries, and were religiously significant to the communities that created and used them. How, though, are such objects to be understood, described, exhibited, and handled now that they are in museums? Are they still sacred objects, or formerly sacred objects that are now art objects, or are they simultaneously objects of religious and artistic significance, depending on who is viewing the object? These objects not only raise questions about their own identities, but also about the ways we understand the religious traditions in which these objects were created and which they represent in museums today...read more

Product Description: Stewards of the Sacred helps museums strike a balance between the traditions of the past, the demands of the present, and the opportunities of the future as they engage in a discourse about the principle and practices of faith. Drawn from a conference organized by Harvard University's Center for the Study of World Religions, the book's leading authors cover a full range of topics, including community involvement in conservation and interpretation of sacred objects, representing spirituality for widely diverse visitors, acknowledging the sacred nature of non-religious objects, and sharing authority with Native communities...read more