Respect for Rapa Nui: exhibition and conservation of Easter Island stone statues

Abstract

Writing in 1968, archaeologist William Mulloy rightfully called Easter Island (Rapa Nui) an ‘outdoor archaeological museum of unique significance’. Indeed, the potential value of the island’s archaeological sites and their import for the island’s tourist economy meant that sites were touted as museum displays worthy of preservation, restoration and curation (Mulloy & Figueroa G.-H. 1966; Mulloy 1968: iii). That value encouraged successful funding appeals by Mulloy for restoration of several ceremonial sites at Tahai, Ahu Akivi and elsewhere.These restorations, first and foremost, ‘produced archaeological information bearing on the reconstruction of the local prehistoric culture’, while at the same time ‘the restorations are expected to serve as exhibit materials in relation to presently developing plans for a tourist industry’ (Mulloy 1968: iii).