Dr. Anthony Shelton

Biography

Professor Anthony Shelton is the Director of Museum Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, where he has served since August 1, 2004. An anthropologist, administrator, and curator originally from Britain, he is recognized as a leader in museology, cultural criticism, and the anthropology of art and aesthetics. He has over 24 years of teaching and curatorial experience, holding positions at prestigious institutions such as the British Museum and the Horniman Museum, as well as teaching roles at the University of Sussex, University College London, and the University of Coimbra in Portugal. Professor Shelton has curated 13 exhibitions, including notable ones like 'Luminescence: Silver Peru' at the Museum of Anthropology and 'African Worlds' at the Horniman Museum. His research interests focus on Mexican and Andean visual culture, the relationships between indigenous visual and performative arts and social structures, and the critical study of museology and appropriation. He has published extensively in areas concerning visual culture and the history of collecting, with significant works covering topics such as the impact of evangelization on visual culture in Latin America and the role of pre-Columbian art in Western collections.

Research Interests

Experience