Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

This study presents theoretical considerations and practical approaches to countering epistemic injustice and fostering knowledge exchange when researching issues of race, representation, and inclusion in UK art galleries. It is vital as a researcher concerned with questions of race, representation, and inclusion in the Museum and Gallery – not to overlook that the origins of dominant research paradigms for social science are in Eurocentric tradition (Held, 2019; Mignolo, 2013; Gunaratnam, 2003; Fanon, 1970). Thematic concerns, agendas, and methods for conducting research are embedded with coloniality. So too is the art history and arts education underpinning collections and exhibitions practices in the UK. Although not titled as such until recently epistemic injustice has long been a key theme explored by classic scholars of race such as Fanon, Du Bois, and Locke. Mindful of these explorations, this paper considers how the doctoral project it draws upon has avoided uncritical acceptance of epistemologies of ignorance (Mills, 1997; Sullivan and Tuana, 2007; Medina, 2018). It is presented how sensitivity to issues of power, positionality, and ideas about different kinds and formulations of knowledge have been considered crucial throughout the research design and development. It also posits how these issues can be mediated in the process of research through approaches of reflexivity, openness, exploratory methods, and the use of an intersectional framework.