The museum that is a’live and a’woke Using artist interventions in adding multiperspectivity to the meta-narrative of colonial collections in Dutch historic museums.

Abstract

The last decade the debate about the heritage of Dutch colonialism is widespread. Dutch museums with colonial collections are forced by society to reflect and act on their own role in the contested part of the Dutch colonial history. This reflexive approach is of great importance to the future of museum politics in dealing with colonial collections. Or as Achille Mbembe rightly notices, transform the archive from the past into new possibilities in the present.1 In other words make the museum live and awake and give objects from the past a place in present society. Artists’ interventions can play a role in adding multiperspectivity to the narrative being told by museums. This thesis critically explores how the voice of artists can re-contextualize, counter or change the meta-narrative of colonial collections in Dutch historic museums. Critical reflection of the formation of exhibitions and their narrative exposes the importance of an equivalent collaboration between the artist and the museum to realize multiperspectivity. To represent an inclusive exhibition, that reflects on the colonial past you should not only change the narrative, but also likewise change the power structures in museum practices.