Fonds 152 - Anthony Shelton fonds

Anthony Shelton served as the Director of the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) from August 2004 through June 2021. A researcher, curator, teacher and administrator, his interests include Latin American, Iberian and African visual cultures, Surrealism, the history of collecting, and critical museology. Before coming to UBC he held curatorial positions at the British Museum, The Royal Pavilion, Art Gallery and Museum’s Brighton, the Horniman Museum, London, and academic appointments at the University of Sussex, University College, London and the University of Coimbra. He has been the Portuguese representative to ASEMUS (Asia-Europe Museums Network), and sat on the international advisory boards for the construction and development of the Humboldt Forum, Berlin and the Asian Cultural Complex, Gwangju.

Dr. Shelton has published extensively in the areas of visual culture, critical museology, history of collecting and various aspects of Mexican cultural history. His works include Art, Anthropology, and Aesthetics (with J. Coote eds. 19, 1992); Museums and Changing Perspectives of Culture (1995); Fetishism: Visualizing Power and Desire (1995); Collectors: Individuals and Institutions (2001); Collectors: Expressions of Self and Others (2001).

Dr. Shelton curated two acclaimed exhibitions at MOA: Luminescence: The Silver of Peru and Heaven, Hell and Somewhere In Between: Portuguese Popular Art. He also launched an award-winning publication series with Figure 1 Publishing, authoring several of its titles, including the recently published Under Different Moons: African Art in Conversation and Theatrum Mundi: Masks and Masquerades in Mexico and the Andes. He helped to expand MOA’s African, European and Latin American collections. He also developed strong relationships with consulates, created an external advisory board, and secured funding for postdoctoral curatorial fellows.

Dr. Shelton received Doctorate and Masters degrees from Oxford University, and a Bachelors degree from the University of Hull.