Time to Act: Rohingya Voices

Abstract

ABSTRACTMore and more museums are engaging with historically marginalized populations to better tell their stories. Developed through activist curatorship, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ exhibition Time to Act: Rohingya Voices represents an attempt to move towards a more inclusive and democratic museum practice. It also raises important questions for institutions trying to engage ethically with historically marginalized communities. What strategies can museums adopt to better address the needs of the historically excluded people they intend to serve? Are museums meaningfully opening up spaces for new actors to participate in their work? This article describes the development of an exhibition co-curated with the Rohingya community in Canada and the challenges arising from both the lack of diversity of museum personnel involved in decision-making processes and the absence of institutional anti-oppression and social justice frameworks. This article concludes that increasing diversity in museum leadership; providing adequate anti-oppression and social justice training; openly discussing racism, implicit biases, whiteness and other forms of privilege; as well as adopting clear ethical guidelines for engaging with historically marginalized communities are a necessary starting point towards redressing historical injustices and the unequal distribution of power in museum institutions.