‘Being part of a space made up of people of colour, led by people of colour’: Young people navigating institutional whiteness in the cultural sector

Abstract

AbstractIn 2020, after George Floyd's murder and with the mobilisation of Black Lives Matter activism, many UK institutions announced social media pledges to tackle racism. The cultural sector promised honest conversations about race, racism and whiteness and offered hope for social justice. However, not long after claims of imminent change on the part of cultural organisations, it went quiet. Conversations about race, racism and whiteness, once again, were not a priority. Rightly, young activists question the performative nature of cultural institutions expressing anti‐racist commitment and social justice values. Drawing upon the experiences of museum education, engagement and activism, the key question addressed in this paper by the author and members of the Our Shared Cultural Heritage Young Collective is: How do young people understand and experience the processes of engaging in education and activism in what they perceive to be overwhelmingly white middle‐class cultural institutions? The authors argue that museums can be useful, relevant and interesting to young people if museum staff actively seek to learn from them through participatory action research. The authors share some highlights, challenges and complexities of our ‘youth‐led’ work in the heritage sector, in the hope that museums and galleries, as well as other arts and cultural organisations, might learn and benefit from our experiences and knowledge of young people's activism in the heritage sector.