Cunera Buijs (1958) is Curator Arctic. She is an anthropologist, specialized in visual and museum anthropology. Her research interest lies in issues of dress and identity, and questions of ownership, authority and access. She has explored these interests with specific attention to the material culture of the Arctic area, specializing in issues of sharing knowledge and cultural heritage, and visual repatriation.
Cunera studied Museology at Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam, and Cultural Anthropology at Leiden University. In 2004, she finished her PhD-thesis on clothing, its significance and role in Inuit society (Leiden University). Her publications have also focused on climate change, the trade boycott of sealskin, and shamanism. Cunera regularly conducts extensive fieldwork in the area.
Cunera’s most recent publications include “Een waterdicht verhaal: Darmenhuiden en vissenhuiden kleding uit het Noordpoolgebied” in Textiel 2, 2015, “The Real Stuff: Authenticity and Photography from East Greenland in the Netherlands” in Mededelingen van het Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde 42, 2013, “The Roots2Share project, the Nooter photo collection from East Greenland (with Aviâja Rosing Jakobsen) ” in Etudes/Inuit/Studies 35 (1-2), 2011. She was also co-editor of the 2010 volume of Mededelingen van het Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, 39: Sharing Knowledge & Cultural Heritage, First Nations of the Americas. Case Studies in Collaboration Projects with Indigenous Peoples from Greenland; Canada, North America, and South America.