Critical Reflection, Discussion, and New Opportunities
As a museologist who is researching human rights and social justice in connection with community building, exposure to emergent ideas of museum anthropology scholarship and practice is important for me. I am discovering that the work being done in this specific domain of anthropology has a lot in common with my own interests, and it may be able to inform my research in different ways, which I will continue to explore.
In addition, the Museum Anthropology Futures Conference has enabled me to connect with museum professionals and academics from Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, theUnited States, and other parts of the world. The nature of the event encouraged critical and provocative reflection in small group settings.
We discussed topical subjects such as how curators can be more responsive to issues of social justice, how ethnographic museums can move forward from the colonial past and be sites for corrective acts in the present and for the future, and what museums should be and do in today’s world. This space also helped me to develop new meaningful work relationships and to engage in conversations about concrete international museology consulting projects and teaching opportunities.
Translating Theory into Practice
By applying the curatorial dreams approach I developed an exhibitionary moment at the Pop-Up gallery of the conference which enabled me to learn innovative curatorial skills with the participation of communities. In particular, I focussed on the creative and energetic production of memory in Colombia, my native country, via the establishment of museums on a range of different scales addressing human rights, devoted to listening to the different voices of Colombians, the reparations to victims, and building a culture of peace. The dynamic interaction I had with conference participants during the exhibition was rich and fruitful. It provided me with different ideas and perspectives on how to present this research in the language of an exhibition. Likewise, new openings arose. For example, one museum curator from the United States proposed hosting and developing this project at her Museum.
“We are called to be the architects of the future, not its victims”
– R. Buckminster Fuller