Biography of objects

The notion of biography is one that leads us to think comparatively about the accumu-lation of meaning in objects and the changing effects these have on people and events. Essays exploring biography - of individuals, objects and institutions - in relationship to the museum, casting new light on the many facets of museum history and theory, from the lives of prominent curators, to the context of museums of biography and autobiography. Early years First steps Professional growth Public recognition Peak period Later years Public interest Professional activity Media attention
Object biographies In this next section I shift focus to consider how the concept of biography has been used to explore how objects change. The concept of the cultural biography of objects came to archaeology from the work of Igor Kopytoff () in an edited volume exploring commodities and exchange practices (Appadurai, ).