Seventeenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Over the past decade as a designer, curator and educational strategist the author has questioned the ideas of the colonial white cube museums. The obsession with preservation, and shirking impermanence, as well as housing (often stolen) cultural artefacts from across the world in looming buildings, have been sore thumbs in our practice. As a descendant of colonial upbringing, the author has founded and curated a museum of natural (and sometimes human-made) artefacts ethically collected from over 10 countries, bringing international experiences to the doorstep of many who cannot afford to travel. Simultaneously learning from and critiquing traditional museum practices, the author allows these artefacts to age and eventually disappear instead of reversing time. Ideas of impermanence, graceful ageing, comfort with viewing the cycle of life and letting go are many aspects of the author’s museum practice. Gatherarium Foundation is a museum of micro museums that uses the age-old technique of gathering, never plucking or plundering any environment. All artefacts are displayed in public spaces, allowing for interaction and shared transfer of knowledge in mostly transparent containers, which provide a constantly transforming visual and also a whiff of time. This paper uses Gatherarium as a case study to reflect on the practice of curation, which until recently took the preservation of artefacts as a primary goal– encouraging acceptance of time and change, probing questions of our collective colonial past, making it available for viewing despite knowing the “damage” it may cause, but most importantly knowing never to pluck, plunder and hoard.