Unsettling Nacken chaetrie: the absence and presence of Gypsy/Travellers in Scottish museums

Abstract

There is evidence that Gypsy/Traveller (Nacken) material culture (chaetrie) has been collected for almost as long as there have been public museums in Scotland. However, it is rare to see Nacken represented in Scottish museums, despite their long history in Scotland. This absence of Nacken from the local and national narratives told in our museums is important because the invisibility of this group has a detrimental impact on their educational, accommodation, justice, health and employment outcomes. It also provides the conditions for prejudices against these groups to thrive. Most research to-date on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller objects in museums focuses on the absence of narratives related to these populations in museums. This thesis explores the past and present material presence of Nacken in museums and how it is valued by contemporary Nacken. It analyses what makes chaetrie invisible in museums and, conversely, how it might contribute to the visibility of Nacken in the future. To answer questions around the presence, absence and absent presence (objects in museums not understood as connected to Nacken) as well as to explore contemporary Nacken responses to chaetrie in Scottish museums, research towards this thesis involved a range of methods. These included archival research, object-based interviews with three Nacken individuals, and short-term ethnographic studies with twenty-two participants, across three museums, focused on the development of museum displays, or discussions around display. It draws on concepts including ‘Gypsy visuality,’ ‘racist policies’ and the ‘heritage cycle’. Findings suggest that unseen chaetrie, present in many museums, requires research and engagement towards improved understanding and use of this material to make clear the historic presence of Nacken in Scotland. It has also demonstrated the benefit of contemporary collecting around Nacken lives in making museums relevant to Nacken today and in allowing museums to represent Nacken as a living culture.