Doing the Work

The Contemporary Art Society partnered with the Decolonising Arts Institute to run a dedicated seminar programme across 2021 called Doing the Work: Embedding anti-racism and decolonisation into museum practice.

The 6 seminars aimed to support staff working in museums, art galleries and public art collections to engage meaningfully with anti-racism and decolonial practice.

The report

Curation: Who and What Narratives Are on Display?

By Lisa Kennedy

The first workshop in the ‘Doing the Work’ series focused on practices of curation and display. In this account Lisa Kennedy explores:

• gaps in knowledge
• stretched resources
• displaying problematic objects
• performative acts
• diversity
• and neutrality

From Institutional Racism to Duties of Care: Moving Interventionist Practices away from Racism and Colonial Dominance

By Sylvia Theuri

In ‘Interventionist Practices’ participants considered the role of artist residencies in museums and galleries, and interventionist projects staged by independent curators and organisations. Sylvia documents key issues raised by the workshop:

• barriers to long-term institutional change
• legacies of interventionist projects
• duties of care

Documentation as a Site for Critical Decolonial and Anti-Racist Work

By Kathleen Lawther

‘Documentation Collections’ covered:

• terminology: what do decolonisation and anti-racism mean to the museum sector?
• myths, stories and facts
• authority and expertise
• and (ongoing) historical contexts

A Dangerous Balance: Interpreting Artworks

By Khairani Barokka (Okka)

The fourth workshop in the series focused on interpreting artworks and how museum workers might embed decolonial or anti-racist approaches within interpretation practice. The interlinked areas of discussions documented in this report include:

• membership and funding pressures
• media and public perceptions
• curatorial and interpretation strategies: including those involving visitors or ‘constituents’
• and performativity/responsibility

Towards Radical Acquisition Futures? Forging Meaningful Change in a Climate of Fragility and Underrepresentation

By Jessica Lowe-Mbirimi

The re-ignition of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 moved the issues of decolonisation and anti-racism back into the spotlight within museums and galleries.

Jessica summarises the challenges that curators are facing when engaging in this anti-racism and/or decolonisation work through collecting artworks. Jessica also explores the lack of consensus when defining decolonisation and what it might mean for museums to decolonise.

Collective Care is Different from Self Care: Rethinking Engagement in Art Museums and Galleries in 2021

By Aksana Khan

The sixth workshop in the ‘Doing the Work’ series focused on the practices and ethics of ‘engagement’ in art museums and galleries, and how anti-racist and decolonial approaches can be embedded in them.

The report covers the problems experienced within art institutions, the way those problems impact on engagement workers and the question of what ‘care’ truly means.