Decolonization Needs to Happen in Museums

No place on Earth is free form the destructive hand of colonization. The violent and dangerous taking from one culture by another culture. There is more to colonization then just the reaping of the land and the resources it provides. It also includes the massacre of the people there before the colonizers. The violent past impact is far reaching in the present time then something that is recognized as being over. Destruction of cultural expression of storytelling, painting, dance, scientific and mathematical advancements. Leaving the land with a new culture perspective that will continue to be the only way of seeing anything. A byproduct of colonization is the creation of museums. Museums are fueled by white supremacy and continue to perpetuate the oppression of indigenous and captive people. Museums are used to cataloging, presenting, and explaining what exhibitions and artifacts mean. Giving white culture an opinion on what those artifacts are even when they do not belong to the that culture. What museums are doing is morally wrong. The exhibits and artifacts are about people that are alive today and should not be exposed as if those people no longer exist. The culture still exists and has a meaning it has the right to be seen and know in their words.

“Until the story of the hunt is told by the lion, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter” This is an Ewe- Mina proverb explains what is happening in museums. There is no other side of the tale. Indigenous people have been removed form being experts in their own culture. It is no longer about them but how white society sees them and thinks about their artist expression.  It is easy for museums to continue the idea that white is the default. The Brooklyn Museums “curatorial team are overwhelmingly white; in 2015, only 16% of all curators, conservators, education and museum leaders were non-white and 4% were black” (1).  Understanding the Brooklyn Museum racial makeup of its staff makes sense, when the museum was called to action when they hired a white woman as the head curator of African art. Well it may seem like the only issue is that the woman hired is white. It goes deeper, through colonize thinking the woman hired, Kirsten Windmuller-Luna, got the job because she is seen to have more education then her colored counterparts. Her education is granted once more through colonization when white colonizers took all the wealth. Giving her the upper hand to be consider elite. Decolonization would call for more colored people to be seen in a higher light then they are that also includes the art they create. The label of “folk art” would not exist. The hierarchy of art is seen through the Eurocentric sense of aesthetic only. It fails to see art can be utilitarian too. This is seen by the way African and Native statues are labeled as folk art because it is used for a purpose. The African sculpture Fertility Figure: Female (Akua Ba) by the Asante peoples. Would be labeled folk art because it is carried by the Asante women in hopes they conceive a child.

“Yet, a major aspect of decolonization is strengthening the concept the First Nations people and ideas should be represented by First Nations people themselves.” (2) Once their voice is heard and appreciated, the process of decolonizing museums will have begun. The Abbe Museum’s defines decolonization as, “at a minimum sharing authority for the documentation and interpretation of Native culture.” (3) Others argue that decolonization is, “a process that institutions undergo to expand the perspective they portray beyond those of the dominant cultural group, particularly white colonizers.” (4) The first definition is a step but does not fulfill the need of total ownership of Native art to the Natives. Museums need to take responsibility for decolonization and start the system over to restore stolen cultures.

Source

1.)   Schwartz, Erin. “How Do You Decolonize an Arts Institution?,” April 5, 2018. https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/j5adn8/brooklyn-museum-decolonize-this-place-open-letter.

2.) Saywhatnathan. “Too Many White Experts.” archival decolonist . archival decolonist , February 20, 2020. https://archivaldecolonist.com/2017/11/16/too-many-white-experts/.

3.)“What Is Decolonization?” Abbe Museum Strategic Plan. Abbe Museum , January 3, 2017. https://abbemuseum.wordpress.com/about-us/decolonization/.

4.) Hatzipanagos, Rachel. “The 'Decolonization' of the American Museum.” The Washington Post. WP Company, October 29, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/10/12/decolonization-american-museum/.

5.) metmuseum.org. Accessed September 18, 2020. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312279.