Recently in my research on decolonization I came across two museum projects that show an institutional commitment to revisiting the dark recesses of colonial history. In 2019 Manchester Museum, UK, commemorated hundred years since the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919) that shook the Indian nation and gave impetus to the Freedom Movement. The show brought the large South Asian community to the exhibition for a cathartic moment as memories of pain and anger for the one thousand victims were followed by unanswered questions regarding its cover-up and the exoneration of Major Dyer, the main culprit. The curatorial strategy included recordings of memories of the survivors and re-enactment of Major Dyer’s testimony at his trial. This exploration of history also unveiled truths about individuals that were often perceived as friends of the Indian people, Rudyard Kipling who built a career on writings on India, was among those who chose to condone Dyer’s murder of the unarmed at Amritsar. Bringing the history of this massacre to the foreground put a lot of pressure on the British Prime Minister to apologize however, this did not happen. The exhibition, on the other hand, managed to open a space for further dialogue on the fractured national narrative and the need to revisit history.

Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum joins the ranks of institutions that are making attempts to decolonize, and is currently holding an exhibition on slavery which focuses on its collection of objects connected to the slave trade, a major contributor to the colonial glory of the Netherlands. The re-contextualized exhibits attempt to humanize the history of enslaved people in the Dutch Colonies and the online symposium offered another layer of information. Researchers shared the challenge faced in finding material on the lives of slaves which in the official colonial records appear only as commodified units who were bought, insured, transported and sold. A multi-disciplinary approach that uses songs, music, new interpretation of visual material like maps and paintings has helped some enslaved lives to appear out of the shadows. We are informed how women slaves smuggled rice in their braids to ensure food safety and continuity of tradition and their precious seeds and skills introduced a new strain of rice in the Caribbean and beyond. The blue beads also appear as an alternate currency for slaves, they were paid with them and had an important role to play in arranging a marriage. Their presence has helped archeologists to trace the movement of slaves, particularly within Barbados. While many questions are yet to be addressed, the slavery exhibition at a national institution that has celebrated colonialism since its inception has begun to respond to new social conversations. This breakthrough raises expectations of follow- up exhibitions and critical dialogue to unveil fresh chapters of a colonial empire built on the transatlantic slave trade and its impact on current politics and social attitudes, particularly involving the large number of descendants of the enslaved people living in the Netherlands.

Decolonization has been defined as a process of dismantling the negative institutional and cultural legacy of colonialism. Scholars have written extensively on decolonization from the perspectives of the former colonies but a study of the decolonization process in the former colonial powers needs equal critical attention. It is also here that colonial ideologies need to be deconstructed and the mechanisms of power that support attitudes of superiority, eurocentrism and privilege have to be brought into question in museums, academia and political institutions. Easy and quick access to information has shattered the myths of the moral high ground that colonizers laid claim to, citizens are increasingly becoming aware of the manipulated history they received, with its hyper- glorification of conquest and power to underplay the gory ramifications of expanding and controlling the empire.

We have seen how the systemic internalization of violence and bigotry in state policies has resulted in domestic unrest and tensions in external relationships.  Twenty-first century interventions against racial politics like the Black Lives Matter movement, and resistance against hate crimes in Europe and North America can be traced to conflicts created by the persisting colonial mindset. Perhaps its most recent indicator is the reaction of the British Government when it criminalized the removal of public statues by protestors. At Oxford University the demand has been to remove the stature of Cecil Rhodes, the nineteenth century champion of white supremacy and colonial racism. In Bristol an outraged crowd pushed the statue of slave trader Edward Colston into the harbor, and there has been a call to remove more statues of unpopular national figures whose presence is an affront to the survivors of their brutality. Despite the State’s desire to hold on to its version of the past, the official narrative is slipping in the favor of an increasingly knowledgeable and empowered public.

The narrative of the Stolen Generations, a term used in Australia to describe the fate of young children snatched from their families under an official colonial policy, has finally found a place in the Australian Museum, a major public institution. This exhibit that has been created by white curators has become controversial for perpetuating the official version. The survivors feel the controlled content needs to be replaced by inclusive perspectives that recounts the unbiased reality. It will never be easy to fully convey the emotionally charged history of the Stolen Generations when thousands of mixed race children were forced under State directive to live in the custody of the church in inhuman conditions. A good number of them did not survive this social –engineering project that took place from 1910 to as recently as 1970. The term Stolen Generation extends also to Child Migrants aged 8-9 kidnapped from orphanages and detention homes in Britain and Malta and shipped to Australia, Canada, Rhodesia, New Zealand as policy to develop British Dominions. This practice continued to take place well into the 1960s and has left a colonial legacy tainted by forced labor, death and pain of young British citizens condoned by successive governments. While public institutions like the Liverpool Museum and Museums in Australia have permanent and temporary exhibits dedicated to Child Migrants but the discourse is relegated to the fringe, this needs mainstreaming to get justice and ensure protection for future generations.

The voices of the of the ‘stolen children’ of Canada are yet to enter Museums, its most recent chapter has unearthed some 700 unmarked graves of children. These hold bodies of 4 year olds and above who were taken from indigenous communities in keeping with a State policy. They were handed over to the church to be given education and skills for integration into white Canadian society. These children suffered a horrible fate as they were not only mal-treated but forbidden to speak in their language or follow their customs. The brutal conditions led to death and traumatized survivors. It’s important to reflect on how this horrific narrative will find its place in Canadian history books and repositories like museums, will the memories be distorted with erasure or given respect and honor. What role will it play in sustaining the demand for justice and accountability.

To me the critical question is that these cruel policies are not a matter of the past, they continue to exist and are protected by institutionalized racism and sanction to exploit and discriminate. Cultural institutions like national museums have steadily made interventions in response to the new conversations on equality and justice, but their discourse is often constrained by historical baggage and official mandate. The decolonization of the museum can only be done with public pressure and disruptors in the rank of its curators and administrators, that with courage and empathy can re-contextualize the legacy of a dark and painful history.

 Title image: Enslaved Men Digging Trenches, artist unknown c. 1850 (copyright the Rijksmuseum)