Natural History Museums in Argentina, 1862–1906

Abstract

Natural history museums in Argentina during the last third of the nineteenth century have usually been regarded as pivotal institutions in the survey and exhibition of the national territory and, by extension, as disseminators of cohesive civic representations in the context of ‘nation building’. Departing from the idea of museums as material spaces in which scientific, concrete practices around collections take place, in this essay we propose a more nuanced picture that shows labile and changing ties between natural history museums and the state during the period. To this end, we consider the crafting of collections, exhibitions, policies of access and use developed at the Museo Público de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (later Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires) and the Museo General de La Plata.