Every semester that I teach museum anthropology we begin with few weeks of discussion and analysis of collecting and value. During this period we look at the impulse to collect, the way objects are given value in sociocultural contexts and how this happens through social practices. This past weekend I came upon a great little short documentary which  tells the story of a discerning sanitation worker—a connoisseur of trash—who rescues pieces he identifies as potentially valuable, and brings them together […]

Categories: Collecting, Museums, Museums, Exhibitions and Representation, Value • Tags: garbage, trash