Convenors: Anna Mossolova (University of Oslo) and Khadija Zinnenburg von Carroll (CEU)
Chair: Gro Ween (University of Oslo)
https://easaonline.org/conferences/easa2024/cfp
Art interventions in ethnographic collections/exhibitions can expand and enrich museums’ toolboxes when it comes to the curation of objects from colonial contexts. The panel invites artists, curators, and museum anthropologists to view and discuss artistic interventions as a decolonising method.
How can museums keep and exhibit colonial cultural heritage in a way that allows multivocality, fluidity, and serendipity? This panel will look into artistic interventions in ethnographic collections and exhibitions. As a powerful and often provocative decolonising method, art interventions can significantly expand and enrich museums’ toolboxes when it comes to the curation of objects from colonial contexts. E.g., creative interventions help facilitate the critical engagement of the public with difficult heritage by expanding and/or enacting exhibition narratives, making the past relevant to the here and now. The panel invites artists, curators, and museum anthropologists to share their experiences with and perspectives on artistic interventions: What can be the issues in such dialogical collaborations? Can museums feel intimidated when letting artists ‘play around’? Do artists have enough freedom to express themselves in a controlled museum environment? How does the public react to unexpected art interventions? Can an intervention (un)do an exhibition?