‘Museums are the subject of so many hot-button topics’
Why this conference, now?
Erica Lehrer: The overarching goal is to take stock of what museum anthropology looks like today and envision its future directions.
We want to build a more diverse network for exchanging knowledge by forging connections among academics, students, museum professionals, artists, art historians, curators, community activists, and others – anyone who has a stake in what museums do.
A side goal is to showcase the exciting projects anthropologists are working on in museums and with museums for the broader public — to show how museums matter, and how they can matter more and in better ways.
In museum anthropology, what are the hot topics these days?
EL: Museums are the site of so many contentious debates right now.
In Canada, the recommendations of the recently concluded Aboriginal Truth and Reconciliation Commission make issues of decolonization and Indigenization of institutions particularly pressing. This means not only considering the provenance and ownership arrangements of museum collections, but how they are cared for, interpreted, displayed, and used. We also have to ask who holds the majority of curatorial and education positions in these institutions, as well as who sits on their boards. These are crucial questions of power, authority, and perspective.
What makes Concordia a good fit for Museum Anthropology Futures?
EL: Concordia, and Montreal, is a great place because of all the energies here around museums, heritage, public history, curating, culture, and the arts. At the university, this includes my Canadian Research Chair in Museum and Heritage Studies, and the Curating and Public Scholarship Lab that I run.
But many Concordians are involved in the conference. Rebecca Duclos, dean of Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts, will be running the opening round table discussion with John Lukavic, Curator of Native Arts, Denver Art Museum, and two artists, Spring Hurlbut and Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas.
Heather Igloliorte, Concordia Research Chair in Indigenous Art History and Community Engagement, has organized a round table on Expo 67. Kim Sawchuk, associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies, will open the conference with welcoming remarks.
Plus, two Concordia students, Ika Peraic and Jacob Le Gallais, are curating pop-up exhibitions, and we have a fabulous organizing committee made up of history and fine arts students, supported by 10 additional volunteers.