Camouflaging colonialism: a case study of a NeoColonial Museum

Abstract

Museums are presented as institutions housing a society’s most outstanding artistic collective achievements. They are racialized organisations helping preserve white supremacist normativity in the racialized social system. We argue that museums are colonial projects that often camouflage colonialism. Museums’ hierarchal nature in prioritising Europe is blatantly apparent but rendered unseen unless you study its presence. Then, you discover differences through indifference. We used ethnographic observations and photography to explore how the Boston Museum of Fine Arts conceals colonialism. We find, for example, that the Art of Africa is demoted to two transitionary passageways. The pre-Columbian exhibit is relegated to the basement and camouflaged by other exhibitions. Additionally, Black bodies are subject to out-of-place sexualised portrayals. These findings reinforce our earlier argument that museums are white sanctuaries, safe spaces allowing whites to reaffirm their dominance in society.