Of Anticonquest Stories, Collecting and Musealizations: François Machon in Patagonia (1892)

Abstract

In 1892, the Swiss physician François Machon carried out an expedition to Argentinean Patagonia. It´s purpose was to look for lands to be colonized on a large scale. During his trip, to record his experience, he wrote a travel diary; at the same time, he took photographs, collected numerous objects and human remains that, years later, he donated to different museums. The objective of this article is to critically examine
this journey and its consequences: from the analysis of the diary and correlating the text with the museum collections, it is intended to evidence the close links between the colonization projects in Nineteenth-century, the development of scientific disciplines and the creation of collections. Additionally, it is intended to illustrate how Machon’s perspective and discourse about the Patagonian were perpetuated and spread - in time and in space – throughout the showcases of a museum.