Nicholas Thomas
Nicholas Thomas' books on cross-cultural encounters, colonialism, art and museums include Entangled Objects: Exchange, Materical Culture, and Colonialism in the Pacific (Harvard University Press, 1991), which influentially contributed to a revival of material culture studies, Possessions: Indigenous Art / Colonial Culture (Thames & Hudson, 1999), and Discoveries: The Voyages of Captain Cook (Penguin Press, 2003). His recent writings on museum histories and practice include The Return of Curiosity: What Museums Are Good for in the Twenty-first Century (Reaktion Books, 2016). He has been director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge since 2006, and has curated extensively, often in collaboration with contemporary artists. Over 2018–2019, he co-curated “Oceania” for the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris.
For more information, read about Nicholas' current project Museum futures and visit his webpage.