In this two-part special feature we think with the Museum Ethnographer's Group conference "Decolonizing the Museum in Practice", held in April of this year. The first part focuses on the legacies and futures of ethnographic museums and features interviews with Faye Belsey, Laura Van Broekhoven, and Rachael Minott. Together, these conversations ask us: what does decolonization look like in practice, how can injustices past and present be addressed by museum professionals, and by what means might we better balance power and access between museum staff and diverse stakeholders? Hosted by Deborah Thomas and with interviews conducted by Chris and Cassandra Green, this two-part series on “decolonizing museums” examines the past, present, and future(s) of museum practice. Given often sordid collection histories and the strained at best or non-existent at worst relations that museums have had with communities of origin, these interviews address how we might face head-on the legacies of colonialism and empire. Full episode transcript. 

Image Caption: The central gallery of the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University, UK. View from the upper mezzanine showing the gallery length-wise. The many glass cases containing artifacts from all over the world on and around the ground floor are clearly visible, while two people look on in the lower foreground.

Credits: 

Introduction/Conclusion: Deborah Thomas 

Interviewers: Chris Green Recorder: Cassandra Green 

Producers: Kyle Olson and Nooshin Sadegh-Samimi 

Assistant Producer: Chris Green 

Featured Audio:

Gingee - "Decolonize your Mind" 

"Brooklyn Museum Hires White Curator of African Art, Horace Cooper Responds to Backlash"

Now This Video - "Why We Need to Decolonize the Brooklyn Museum"

Decolonize This Place - "Anti-Columbus Day: Decolonize This Museum"