Decolonizing the Museum: Art, Activism, and the Question of Race in Curation (Museums in Focus)

This book asks what it means to decolonize museums in theory and practice.It explores recent calls by activists and artists for social change in and through museums and how museums have responded to these calls and interventions. The point of departure for this volume is the burgeoning global debates around racism that have compelled many museums and public institutions to confront their complicity in colonialism, both past and present.Building on interviews with curators, cultural practitioners, activists, and artists, as well as the authors' ongoing involvement with movements aimed at decolonizing museums, this volume explores how anti-racist activism and artivism have transformed museums, as well as the broader social and political significance of these transformations.The book focuses on the practices, approaches, and strategies that are being adopted in efforts to decolonize museums and cultural institutions, where they succeed and fail, and the similarities and differences betwee