Biografisk notat

Dr. Cunera Buijs (1958) is anthropologist and curator Arctic of the National Museum of World Cultures, Leiden. Her research interest lies in issues of dress and identity, and questions of ownership, authority and access. In 2004, she finished her PhD-thesis on clothing, its significance and role in Inuit society (Leiden University). Her publications have also focused on climate change and the trade boycott of sealskin. Cunera’s most recent publications include ‘Living objects, The transfer of knowledge through East Greenlandic material culture’, in: Traditions, Traps and Trends, Transfer of Knowledge in Arctic Regions, Jarich Oosten and Barbara Miller (eds), UAP’s Polynya Press, pp. 143-189 and ‘Shared Inuit Culture: Museums and Arctic Communities from a European Perspective’, Etudes/Inuit/Studies Vol. 41 (2), in: Collections arctiques/Arctic Collections (forthcoming in 2020), Gwénaëlle Guigon (ed.). She is co-curator of the exhibition Healing Power – Winti, shamanism and more (2011). Wouter Welling (1964) is curator contemporary art at the National Museum of World Cultures. Since the 80s he has been working as an art critic and curator, mainly in the field of globalization and interculturality in the art world. He has published numerous articles, books and catalogues about both western and non-western art, such as Ad Fontes! An intercultural search for hidden sources (2001), Kijken zonder Grenzen – hedendaagse kunst in het Afrika Museum, de collectie Valk en verder (2006), Roots & More – The Journey of the Spirits (with Irene Hübner, 2009), Dangerous and Divine – the secret of the serpent (2012), a Jungian approach to serpent symbolism. He has a special interest in esotericism and occultism in the visual arts. He curated solo exhibitions such as The Dono Code (Heri Dono, Tropenmuseum, 2009) and Abdoulaye Konate (Afrika Museum, 2013). He is co-curator of the exhibition Healing Power – Winti, shamanism and more (2011).