Paradoxes of Belonging in Peru's National Museums

This article examines the establishment of Peru's national museums in the first half of the 20th century. I address the ways that art, archaeology, and anthropology intertwined in the collection of objects and the creation of buildings in which to house them. In addressing commemorative events, especially the Centennial of Independence, I argue that the performative practices of memory building depended on the creation of an idea of unity that, paradoxically, emphasized differences attributed largely to race and origin. Thus, the state's efforts to hegemonize the past by appropriating Inca and earlier pre-Columbian cultures as Peruvian were both supported and challenged by elite vanguard artists and intellectuals who shaped the new national museums along with the concept of patrimony. In particular, I focus on the National Museum of Popular Culture, addressing the seminal role of artist José Sabogal and his circle, within the broader contexts of Peruvian and Latin American indigenismo.