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Does museum preservation of bisj poles conflict with the purpose for which they are made?
On record Bisj pole · 2025-02-10 · Redaksi benda dan koleksi
Contested claim · CLM-0005
Asmat carvers and customary council
Community position
A pole is made for one ceremony and left to decay; that decay is part of its purpose. To preserve it is to hold back something that ought to have ended.
T1 SRC-0106
Some museum curators
Institutional position
Poles already in collections cannot be returned to their original condition; keeping them with clear documentation is held preferable to destroying them, and decisions about them should be held jointly with their owners.
T3 SRC-0306
The object entry states both positions and does not declare either the correct practice.
Every position carries its own source, and the tier of that source is visible. A position resting only on a tertiary source is still recorded — as circulating usage, not as an equivalent account.