Decolonising heritage: history, memory, and material culture

The fifth session will explore the role of museums in decolonisation by approaching the question, How, if at all, can museums be decolonised?

Required Readings:

• Das, S., and Lowe, M. (2018). Nature read in black and white: decolonial approaches to interpreting natural history collections. Journal of Natural Science Collections, 6, 4-14. (Students need only read the introduction.)
• Kasmani, S. (2018). Decolonising display (video).
• Radicals in Conversation (2020). The Brutish Museums: Decolonisation and the Benin Bronzes (podcast).
• Shoenberger, E. (2023). What does it mean to decolonize a museum? Museum Next.

Suggested Readings:

• Minott, R. (2019). The past is now: confronting museums’ complicity in imperial celebration. Third Text 33(4-5), 559-574.
• Wintle, C. (2016). Decolonizing the Smithsonian: Museums as Microcosm of Political Encounter. The American Historical Review, 121(5), 1492-1520.
• McAleer, J. (2013). ‘That infamous commerce in human blood’: reflections on representing slavery and empire in British museums. Museum History Journal 6(1), 72-86.
• Atalay, S. (2006). Indigenous archaeology as decolonizing practice. American Indian Quarterly, 30(3/4), 280-310.
• Onciul, B. (2015). Museums, Heritage and Indigenous Voice: Decolonising Engagement. Routledge.
• Qureshi, S. (2012). Tipu’s Tiger and Images of India 1799-2010. In S. Longair, & J. McAleer (Eds.), Curating Empire: Museums and the British Imperial Experience, pp. 207-224. Manchester University Press.
• Kassim, S. (2017). The museum will not be decolonised.
• Abd el-Gawad, H., & Stevenson, A. (2021). Egypt’s dispersed heritage: Multi-directional storytelling through comic art.
• Museums Association. Supporting Decolonisation in Museums.
• LSE South Asia Centre Tough Talk: Should Colonial Objects in Museums be Returned? With Dan Hicks, Dolly Kikon, Adewala Maja-Pearce and Kavita Singh.
• Knudsen, B. T., Oldfield, J., Buettner, E., & Zabunyan, E. (2022). Decolonizing colonial heritage: New agendas, actors and practices in and beyond Europe (p. 470). Taylor & Francis.