Of all the collectors associated with the live exhibitions of native peoples organized by zoo owner and animal dealer Carl Hagenbeck, Johan Adrian Jacobsen holds a unique position. Through Jacobsen, the recruitment of native peoples extended to new environments with no connection to the animal trade and the practice of recruiting people and collecting ethnographic paraphernalia became a specialization in its own right. What makes him even more important, from a historical perspective, is that he documented his activities and experiences in thousands of letters and journal entries as well as in numerous publications. Jacobsen’s documentation give us a look at the process of recruitment in action, from the traveler’s viewpoint. Moreover, they offer unique insight into issues of native participation and resistance.
Cathrine Baglo
Cathrine Baglo
Cathrine Baglo. Foto: Mari Karlstad
Utvalgte arbeider
Reconstruction as trope of cultural display
«During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a new and particularly widespread type of exhibition practice occurred all over the Western World, namely “living exhibitions”. They were characterized by the display of indigenous and exotic-looking peoples in zoological gardens, circuses, amusement parks, various industrial expositions, and major international expositions where representatives of indigenous and foreign peoples from all over the globe performed their everyday life in reconstructed settings.»
Hr. Kaptein Jacobsen og hans arbeid for Bergens national-ethnografiske forening
I mars 1892 ble Bergens national-ethnografiske forening dannet med formål om å opprette et norsk folkemuseum i byen, enten som en egen institusjon eller tilknyttet Bergens Museum. Museet hadde da en mindre samling norske «bondegjenstander». Nå ønsket man å sette i gang et større samlingsarbeid, med vekt på Vestlandet. Allerede fra starten var foreningen tydelig på hvem de ønsket skulle utføre arbeidet, både «Indsamlingen og Opstillingen av Gjenstande»: Hr. Kaptein Jacobsen i Berlin, og de var villige til å strekke seg langt for å få ham. Men hvem var Jacobsen? Hvorfor tok de kontakt nettopp med ham, og hva gikk arbeidet ut på?