Descolonizar o museu: exposição e mediação dos espólios africanos em museus europeus

Maria Isabel Roque

doi:10.21814/rlec.3110

Authors

Maria Isabel Roque Faculdade de Turismo e Hospitalidade, Universidade Europeia, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2258-8904

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21814/rlec.3110

Keywords:

co-curatorship, museological discourse, exhibition, colonial museum, post-colonial museum

Abstract

The first museums emerged in Europe, in the context of colonial empires and hegemonic thinking, based on contemporary evolutionist theories, becoming an instrument in the service of the dominant power. The end of colonialism caused a rupture in the model of evolutionist museums, bringing to debate new ways of interpreting, displaying and communicating collections from non-European cultures. This paper aims to analyse the phenomenon of the decolonisation of the museum, starting from a diachronic analysis of issues related to the restitution of objects to the origin cultural groups and the reformulation of museological discourses, namely through projects of co-curatorship. This investigation is qualitative, descriptive and conceptual, based on bibliographic research and critical analysis of the gathered data, whose results are structured into four points: colonialist discourse of the first museums; post-colonialist debates; decolonisation and restitution of objects to the origin cultural groups; agents and factors of the decolonisation of museums in contemporary times. As a research hypothesis, it is suggested that the decolonisation of the museum is an ongoing process that develops by recovering the original meaning of objects and by representing the origin communities, assuring the inclusion of their narratives and their active and equal participation in the museum’s practices.

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