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.
Summary
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.