Dioramas are multimedia installations used in museums and popular culture since the 19th century. I study two sets of anthropological dioramas: the ones made for the Museum of Natural History in New York by Franz Boas; and the ones fabricated at the New York State Museum in Albany by Arthur C. Parker. As I will show, dioramas are not only visual dis- plays but also installations with a proper materiality and temporality: they are the stage of multiple performances and work as contact zones between objects, models, makers, and beholders.
Index to publications of the New York State Natural History Survey and New York State Museum, 1837-1902; also including other New York publications on related subjects.
