Throughout political movements of recent years, particularly during the 2020 resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, decolonisation is a word that many of us have familiarised ourselves with. From curriculums, to spaces, to statues, the rallying cry to undo and acknowledge the harrowing effects of colonialism encompasses a wide variety of potential solutions and frameworks. There is no set course of action for decolonisation: the only thing that does not vary is its common goal for justice and change to colonial perspectives.
Anyone who has kept up with decolonial action will know that museums are one of the key sectors expected to undertake decolonisation, with Eurocentric narratives and colonised or unethically acquired objects taking centre stage in museums throughout the world. The original indigenous contexts, and sometimes even the consent of the objects’ country of origin, have historically been absent from these displays. This call for decolonisation is vital within museums in the UK, as the devastating effects of the British Empire are exceedingly evident in these objects and their acquisition – not just the Elgin Marbles!
As we turn towards museums across the UK, with increased expectations towards decolonial action, I want to draw attention to Manchester Museum: a case study exceedingly important to students of Manchester, and one right on our doorstep. Undoubtedly, whilst every museum in the UK has work to do to decolonise, Manchester Museum’s efforts towards this goal in recent years deserve acknowledgement.
When thinking of decolonisation in the museum world, we often jump to repatriation: the act of returning a culturally significant object to its place or country of origin. These are often objects that were acquired illegally or unethically from a colonised country. This act is undoubtedly vital to allowing countries recovering from colonialism to reclaim their cultural identity, as it allows them to own and maintain complete control over the display and ownership of objects important to their history and heritage.
In late 2019, Manchester Museum became the first UK museum to repatriate objects back to Aboriginal groups, returning forty-three objects to four aboriginal communities. Esme Ward, the director of Manchester Museum, clarified that repatriation is an ongoing goal of the museum, as it has the potential to create connections between communities, and provides hope for the future narratives in museums. Hopefully, this is the beginning of many more repatriations to reunite communities with objects of their heritage or religion.
However, repatriation is not the end of a museum’s responsibilities to decolonise: the Museum Association reminds us that decolonisation isn’t simply the relocation of an object, but the act of making museums an institution free from postcolonial power structures, as well as a place that actively discusses and acknowledges the role that colonialism plays within cultures, objects, or the museum site itself. To summarise, museum decolonisation is an act not simply focusing on objects, but on the narratives that they create and display to visitors.
What’s most evident about Manchester Museum’s attempts to decolonise have been these movements towards creating thorough and well-researched narratives throughout its displays. With the museum re-opening early next year, insights into the transformations of the museum reveal that its new exhibitions and galleries place a great deal of focus on indigenous voices. One of which, the South Asia Gallery, was co-curated with members of the local community with South Asian heritage to impart their own perspective onto the exhibition. Similarly, the permanent Belonging Gallery imparts stories of indigenous voices of multiple cultures. It is evident that this value of indigenous voices and self-representation is a feature that we can expect to see in the future work of Manchester Museum, having created the role of Curator of Indigenous Perspectives specifically for this purpose.
As well as decolonisation within the museum’s curation and display, this action is also being carried through to the collections themselves, as shown by David Gelsthorpe’s 2021 research into items from the museum’s mineral collection, and their connections to colonial countries and their separation from indigenous voices.
It is evident that Manchester Museum, like any British museum, undoubtedly still has work to do to create a decolonised space: this is a vast museum with many collections across history and the world, many of which have not yet publicly undergone this act of repatriation or narrative change. However, it truly makes for a hopeful future to see a museum transforming itself into a space that aims to accurately represent indigenous cultures, and draw attention to unjust narratives, for the purpose of educating and provoking change. Whether this can ever truly be enough to create a truly decolonised or neutral space within the museum, is something that only time will tell. This is not something that can, nor should, be decided by me or any one person, but, instead, should be decided by the communities reflected within the museum’s collections and display. However, I look forward to the future actions of this museum and am truly excited to see the results of the evidently careful thought this institution has placed into accurately representing and celebrating cultural identity when the museum reopens its doors in February 2023.