Panamanian Museums: History, Contexts and Contemporary Debates

Abstract

This study provides an in-depth analysis of the political and economic contexts inwhich dominant representations of nationhood and identity have formed in museumsin Panama.A focus on museums stems from the long history these institutions have ofaccompanying political transformations in Panama. A project for a National Museumwas started as early as 1906, just three years after the official birth of the Republic ofPanama, and with each political change in the country, the museum sector has been inone way or another restructured. During the first years of the military dictatorship(1968-81), a host of new museums were created, and after the return to democracy in1989, government investments in museums increased. Other private and communityinvestments in museums in the last few years (the Museum of the Inter-OceanicCanal inaugurated in 1997, the interpretive museum at the Panamá Viejo VisitorCentre inaugurated in 2004, the Museum of the Kuna Nation opened in 2005, and therelocation of the MARTA in 2006) also show that museums in Panama have onceagain attracted the attention of a number of stakeholders as sites for attempts atrearticulating nationhood and identity in Panama. A number of contemporary debates,in particular those related to Panama’s ethnic diversity and its recent history ofconflict, have nonetheless been silenced or muted in the displays of these museums.The study is divided in three parts, one contextual, one analytical and onepractice-based. Part I: Contexts presents a background of the debates surrounding thehistory of Panama that will be later on contrasted to current museum representations.Part II: Cases presents analyses of five museums: the Museum of Nationality, theAnthropological Museum Reina Torres de Araúz, the Museum of the Inter-OceanicCanal, the Panamá Viejo Visitor Centre, the West Indian Museum of Panama and theMuseum of the Kuna Nation. The cases are analyzed in relation to their external andinternal contexts. External contexts include political and economic factors affectingthe museums (apparent in policies, sources of funding, and employment practices).Internal contexts included disciplinary changes affecting the conceptualization of museums and their mission, as well as other normative changes affecting methods ofcollection and museum deontology. These external and internal contexts are national,regional and international, and have changed over time.Part III: Models is dedicated to examples where silences or gaps in therepresentation of nationhood and identity in Panama have been addressed. Examplesinclude urban art exhibitions in Panama City and temporary exhibitions at theMuseum of Contemporary Art and two New Media models (a computer game and anonline video and audio centre) developed as part of this thesis.