Beyond 'diversity' initiatives: Interrogating whiteness towards a decolonisation of the museum space.

超越“多样性”举措：质疑白人以实现博物馆空间的非殖民化。

• 批准号: 2881882
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Leicester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2881882
• 关键词: Beyond; diversity; initiatives; Interrogating; whiteness

To what extent can shifting the gaze onto whiteness and race contribute to decolonisation in museums, and to what extent can this create more racially inclusive spaces?The recent drive to decolonise the museum space has largely been interpreted by museums as diversifying the colonial museum white space. However, as Sumaya Kassim states: Too often people of colour are rolled in to provide natural resources - our bodies and our decolonial thoughts - which are exploited, and then discarded. [...] Rather than place the onus on people of colour - either as facilitators or as an audience for the museum - we need to flip the narrative and ask how the museum can facilitate the decolonial process for its white majority audience in a way that does not continue to exploit people of colour. (Kassim, 2017). This research seeks to move beyond 'diversity' initiatives to focus on dismantling the image of whiteness as the norm, and exposing 'race' and its legacy in the museum space as central to decolonisation. This is not to say that 'diversity' is not important. Yet I ague 'diversity' projects within the museum space that sit within unchallenged white structures result in perpetuating the racist colonial legacy the museum is attempting to address. In light of a rapidly changing ethical landscape, where institutions are struggling with racial legacies and calls to action, this research aims to extend our understanding of what decolonial and race-conscious museum practice and visitor engagement looks like. Using action-based, original insights into whiteness as a racialised status elicited through the development of an exhibition on 'race', this research seeks to create a mirror onto whiteness as a highly significant contribution to museum 'race' literacy work. This PhD will take a multi-method approach; collecting data through observational and reflective methods studying exhibition case studies; and generating data through an exhibition on 'race'. As a research project that is a social intervention, it intends to be an explorative investigation into the impact of an exhibition on 'race' as a construct on visitors and museum staff, in order to help answer my over-arching research question stated above, in addition to two sub-questions as follows: What happens when white 'sees' white? In shifting the white gaze onto itself, and by changing the subject-object dynamic, can new ways of seeing be created? To what extent can exposing the social construction of 'race' in a museum exhibition create positive change in how 'race' and racism are addressed by white and racially-minoritised people at audience, staff, and institutional levels? This research intends to offer an original contribution to knowledge in order to impact the museum sector by offering a step-change in how racial equity work is approached. Identifying and analysing 'whiteness' as a fundamental part of the process is increasingly called for by scholars and practitioners (Jenson, 2011; Monserrat, Wee and Gamaker, 2020; Kassim, 2017), yet there is very little, if any, significant and robust research in this area.

将目光转向白人和种族能在多大程度上促进博物馆的非殖民化，这能在多大程度上创造更具种族包容性的空间？最近博物馆空间非殖民化的努力在很大程度上被博物馆解读为使殖民时期的博物馆白色空间多样化。然而，正如Sumaya Kassim所说：太多时候，有色人种被卷进来提供自然资源--我们的身体和我们的非殖民主义思想--这些资源被剥削，然后被丢弃。[.]与其把责任放在有色人种身上--无论是作为博物馆的促进者还是观众--我们需要颠倒叙事，问问博物馆如何才能以一种不继续剥削有色人种的方式为其占多数的白人观众促进去殖民主义进程。(卡西姆，2017)。这项研究试图超越“多样性”的倡议，专注于打破白人作为常态的形象，并将博物馆空间中的“种族”及其遗产暴露为非殖民主义的核心。这并不是说“多样性”不重要。然而，我认为博物馆空间内位于无人挑战的白色建筑内的“多样性”项目导致了博物馆试图解决的种族主义殖民遗产的永久化。鉴于快速变化的伦理格局，各机构正在努力应对种族遗产和行动呼吁，这项研究旨在扩大我们对非殖民主义和种族意识的博物馆实践和参观者参与度的理解。这项研究使用基于行动的原创洞察力，通过开发一个关于种族的展览，将白人作为一种种族主义状态，试图创建一面镜子，将白人作为对博物馆的种族扫盲工作的重要贡献。本博士学位将采取多种方法；通过观察性和反思性方法收集数据；研究展览案例研究；并通过一个关于种族的展览产生数据。作为一个社会干预的研究项目，它打算探索性地调查一个展览作为一种构思对参观者和博物馆工作人员的影响，以帮助回答我上面提到的总体研究问题，以及以下两个子问题：当白人看到白人时会发生什么？通过将白色的凝视转移到自身，并通过改变主客体的动态，可以创造新的观看方式吗？在博物馆展览中揭露“种族”的社会结构能在多大程度上为白人和少数族裔人士在观众、工作人员和机构层面解决“种族”和种族主义问题带来积极的变化？这项研究旨在为知识提供原创性的贡献，以便通过改变种族平等工作的方式来影响博物馆部门。越来越多的学者和实践者呼吁识别和分析“白色”作为这一过程的基本部分(Jenson，2011；Monserrat，Wee和Gamaker，2020；Kassim，2017)，但这一领域几乎没有重大而有力的研究。