#decolonize museums

[museumshift]

As a white museum professional, I think it's important to NOT apply for positions that I have NO business applying to. For example, positions which have to do with minority or marginalized groups (e.g. museums that focus on African Art, Chinese Culture, Native American History, etc.). I see it time and time again, white museum professionals continue to get these jobs because those hiring usually are at the whim of racist institutions. 100 percent there were qualified black, Asian, Native American, etc., applicants. I see arguments surrounding hiring the "most qualified" as a way to justify overlooking minority applicants. Well, I think us white assholes need to stop applying to these postings. Someone shared with me a position that dealt with location specific history and culture of where I live, however it was one of these listings that I described above. Not only did they hire a white person for this position, but someone who does not seem to have the correct background (as I actually looked at the listing and I don't even think they qualified) nor were they even living in this city/state and had no major ties to the area. It's pretty gross, TBH.

[iknewhimwellhoratio]

the british museum is just gaslight gatekeep without the girlboss

[quantumshade]

quick survey to really help me out!

hi, my name is Delia and i'm a senior in high school. i'm in the ap capstone program, the goal of which is to complete a large research project. my project is about creating a better structure of museum which is both accessible to the general public as well as ethical and respectful to the communities and history they are teaching about.

here's how you can help me! i've created a short survey (6 required MC questions, with 3 optional written responses) about the topic. anything at all will be so, so helpful to me and my project.

if you don't want to take a survey, that's totally cool, maybe just consider reblogging to spread the word? thank you so much!

link to the survey:

Creating the best possible museum

This is for my research project, titled "Ethics and Accessibility in Museums." I think that it is vital for museums to ask potential guests

[momentsinreading]

“If we have hidden histories in our collections, then some fucker hid them.” –Subhadra Das, UCL Curator

[booksandbirdsandstuff]

I know life is considerably shit for a lot of us right now but as federal grants are a massive part of how museums get funded in the US, and grant funds tend to be lower during GOP terms in office, please visit your local museums if you can. Most will have free days (no entry cost). Many have partnerships with local libraries for free entry when you show your library card. There are also virtual / digital exhibits and online collections which aren't the same experience you'd get from going in person but are still important in museums justifying their existence and access to funds.

There are less webinars and things happening solely online since lockdown was lifted but a phone call or email to a museum should prompt a response from someone who will provide the calendar of free days, special events, and free programming for visitors.

Like any other institution, museum workers are often far more leftist than their employer/funders and the field of museums as a whole. We want repatriation. We want to decolonize. But those in higher management and above (like boards and donors) don't see the profit in it.

Be curious. Be critical. Respond to surveys and questionnaires if you can. And most importantly, enjoy it if you can. Learn. We, as a field, serve our public. Our communities. You are ultimately our boss.

[fwdmuseums]

What does it mean to decolonize a museum?

In the past few years, museums across the US, Europe, and Australia are trying to tackle the challenge of decolonizing their institutions.

In recent years, a notable movement towards decolonizing museums has emerged across the US, Europe, and Australia. However, the very meaning of decolonizing is being debated.

The Washington Post defines it as “a process that institutions undergo to expand the perspectives they portray beyond those of the dominant cultural group, particularly white colonizers.”

The Abbe Museum in Maine takes a more assertive approach by incorporating it into its Strategic plan and defining it as “at a minimum, sharing authority for the documentation and interpretation of Native culture.”

Promoting Diversity in Decolonized Museums

Museums are taking on this critical work to make their museums reflect the diversity and the voices of the people within their collections and around them.

Many museums have legacies rooted in colonialism; their collections were from wealthy donors who benefited from empires. For example, Sir Hans Sloane, a doctor and collector, funded his enormous collection that would be the foundation of the British Museum with earnings from his wife’s slave plantations in Jamaica. Moreover, his collection profited from the reach of the British Empire, where collectors and travellers all over the world “acquired” items for him.

[ce-archerhelke]

A Virginia Museum Repatriated a Nigerian Sculpture and Received a High-Tech Replica in Return. Could the Exchange Shape Future Restitutions?

A U.S. museum volunteered to repatriate a scared monolith to Nigeria, in return it received an exact facsimile.

I love this!