Abstract
In response to recent global interest in addressing and rectifying racial and class-based injustices, many museum professionals and, by extension, affiliated community members have embarked upon a campaign to envision and enact a truly diverse, equitable, accessible, and inclusive (DEAI) iteration of the museum as an institution. One of these more common recent efforts of these professionals and community members began with activist calls to “de-police the museum.” While in some respects laudable, too often such demands have fallen short of effectively grappling with the museum’s violent enforcement of private property through the acquisition, maintenance, and interpretation of their collections. To that end, in this essay, I argue that abolitionist, decolonial, and Neo-Marxist strategies conceived in the political, rather than the cultural, realm may model a more effective approach. My hope is that critical analysis of some of the more recent DEAI attempts, noting not only their strengths but also their shortcomings, will reveal their frequent inability to effectively unseat deeply ingrained institutional injustices, including those that rest at the very foundation of the museum: the private collection. To conclude, then, I argue two points: first, that by implementing these critical strategies drawn from the realm of the political on museum collections’ ownership, the issue of inaccessibility can be critiqued at its core; and second, that in abolishing private property—in this case the private ownership of museum collections—the radically democratized and truly DEAI post-museum can emerge.
Presenters
Leeann ReamStudent, Museum and Exhibition Studies, MA, University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Museum, Property, Private, Police, Security, Objects, Collections, Marxist, Decolonial, Abolitionist
