Towards A Decolonial Museum Practice
Delinking permanent collection exhibitions in Western
museums of modern and contemporary art
University of Amsterdam Faculty of Humanities
MA Heritage Studies: Museum Studies Master Thesis
M.L. (Marleen) Schans Student number: 10483721
Supervisor: mw. dr. M.H.E. (Mirjam) Hoijtink Second Supervisor: dr. D.J. (Dos) Elshout Word count: 22,440
Date of submission: 13 Aug. 2019 ,
They say that history repeats itself But history is only his story You haven’t heard my story yet My story is different from his story My story is not part of history Because history repeats itself
But my story is endless it never repeats itself Why should it?
– Sun Ra, A Joyful Noise, 1980
I say you fit never release yourself Colo-mentality
He be say you be colonial man You don be slave man before Them don release you now But you never release yourself
i
Abstract
This thesis focusses on the question of how museums of modern and contemporary art can use their permanent collection displays to play a role in the current decolonial discourse. Three different museums are analysed in order to find answers to this question by using contemporary socio-cultural, art historical and cultural analytical concepts and theories. The first chapter provides an extensive explanation of these concepts and theories. First, the theory of rewriting as proposed by German artist and curator Peter Weibel is discussed. Second, French art critic and curator Nicolas Bourriaud’s concept of altermodernity provides other elements to approach the research question at hand. Lastly, the theory of decoloniality and its pragmatic project of delinking as formulated by Latin American semiotician Walter Mignolo is discussed to provide tools to move beyond a Eurocentric approach.
The second chapter analyses three permanent collection displays using the theories and concepts provided in the theoretical framework. The first analysis discusses STEDELIJK BASE at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The second analysis discusses The
Making of Modern Art at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The final
analysis discusses Hello World. Revising a Collection at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwardt in Berlin, Germany. The analysis of these three exhibitions demonstrates that museums of modern and contemporary art have ample tools to put their permanent collection into practice with regard to current societal debates, but that these tools are not used to their full potential in some of these cases. Furthermore, this thesis claims that these museums should approach their collection as a story of art amongst many still-to-be discovered stories and that it is necessary to formulate regional vocabularies to approach these stories of art. By working collaboratively, art historical and ethnographic museums should be able to achieve this.
Key words: decolonisation, decoloniality, delinking, museums, modern art, contemporary art, rewriting, history of art, canon, permanent collection displays, exhibitions, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Van Abbemuseum, Hamburger Bahnhof
iii
Acknowledgements
Writing this thesis has made it possible to bring together multiple topics of my personal interest: studies in art, cultural differences, history and museum practice. During my BA in Language and Culture Studies, where I majored in art, culture and history since 1750 until present day, I realised I was not so much interested in the art works itself, but in what meaning these works of art, sometimes centuries old, still have today and how this meaning changes throughout time. Being able to write my MA thesis on how museums use the sometimes centuries old works of art in their collection to generate meaning for people today seems like a dream come true. But I have to admit, it has been a bumpy, longer ride than I had expected.
The first person I would like to honour is my late friend Anne Faber, who unexpectedly passed away in the month I started writing this thesis. We both shared a passion for art history and the ambition to become museum directors. Sometimes we felt the need to compete with each other and even had arguments about it, but most importantly we supported and stimulated each other to grow bigger and better. Losing you, Anne, has been a major setback for me. But it is you whom I have to thank, because your ambition and passion for art continues to live on inside me and it has given me the strength to continue at times I was at the verge of giving up. You keep reminding me of what I am doing this for, so thank you.
I want to thank mw. dr. Mirjam Hoijtink, dr. Dos Elshout and prof. dr. Bram Kempers for having faith in me and my subject, for continuously supporting me throughout my MA during difficult times and lastly for guiding me and giving me constructive advice when needed. I want to thank Charles Esche, Leontine Coelewij and Bart Rutten for graciously setting aside time in their busy schedules to participate in interviews with me. Thank you, Aly Westwood, for being my co-interviewer and for being the dear friend you are.
I want to thank my family and friends, but especially my sister Laura Schans, for being my thesis confidant and whose incredible and unconditional support has pushed me through limits when needed. And my dad Jan Schans, for providing fresh insights on the topic and whose years of professional experience has helped me structure my text. I want to thank my bestest of friends, Nienke, for proofreading my text and supporting me with your love the past months. And Levi, thank you for always being there for me, giving me your shoulders to cry on. You always support me and keep me grounded when my mind runs away with itself. Thank you for inspiring me and reminding me of what I am capable of.
1
Table of Contents
Abstract ... i Acknowledgements ... iii Table of Contents ... 1 Introduction ... 3Repatriation and the Changing Vocabulary of Museums ... 4
The Canon ... 5
Research ... 7
1. Theoretical Framework ... 13
Introduction ... 13
The theory of Rewriting ... 16
Rewriting the Canon ... 18
Altermodernity ... 19
Theory of Decoloniality ... 21
Modernity/Coloniality/Decoloniality ... 22
The Project of Delinking ... 24
AestheSis/AestheTics ... 25
Delinking in Museums of Modern and Contemporary Art ... 26
Conclusion ... 27
2. Three Case Studies ... 29
2.1 STEDELIJK BASE ... 30
Introduction ... 30
‘High Art’ merges with Design ... 32
The Labyrinthine Exhibition ... 34
Vocabulary ... 35
Rewriting, Altermodernity and Delinking ... 36
Conclusion ... 37
2.2 The Making of Modern Art ... 39
Introduction ... 39
Walter Benjamin has Resurrected ... 41
Desacralisation and Dearticisation ... 43
Cubism and Abstract Art ... 44
A Utopian Perspective ... 45
Rewriting, Altermodernity and Delinking ... 46
Conclusion ... 47
2.3 Hello World!... 49
2
Agora ... 52
Making Paradise ... 53
Rewriting, Altermodernity and Delinking ... 56
Conclusion ... 57
3. Conclusion ... 59
Bibliography ... 65
3
Introduction
In early 2018, Marvel Studios released their superhero movie Black Panther, which caused excitement in African communities across the world, as it is considered to be the first Hollywood production featuring an almost fully black cast. Fifteen minutes into the movie, there is a scene that can be viewed as revolutionary. A fictional National Museum, the ‘Museum of Great Britain’, is introduced. A male of African descent is looking at African artefacts inside a glass display case, when the curator responsible for the artefacts, a white, middle-aged female with blonde hair, approaches him to answer some of his questions. The man claims she could never know as much about these works of art as he does, and eventually he asks her: “How do you think your ancestors got these? You think they paid a fair price? Or did they take it like they took everything else?”1 This is the first scene in a Hollywood movie to address the (de)colonial debate in museums so directly, bringing the discussion on the origins and restitutions of former colonial artefacts within collections of Western national and ethnographic museums to a wider audience. This discussion is considered a key factor in the discourse on decolonisation.
What the scene does not introduce, however, is a more complex part of the decolonial discourse. Within this critical theoretical framework, multiple attempts have been made to make sense of the complex world. One of these attempts wass made by Latin-American sociologist Walter Mignolo, who claims that the European narrative of ‘Modernity’ hides its darker side, ‘Coloniality.’2 Coloniality can be considered the Western attitude after the decolonisation practices of the twentieth century, during which former Western colonies became independent nation states. Coloniality is the contemporary global political, economic and social structure of the world: the Western hegemony (including Western European countries, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan) versus the rest (non-Western countries). Whereas ‘Modernity’ is considered to be the ensemble of socio-cultural norms, attitudes and practices that arose in Europe in the 16th century (Renaissance) that developed throughout the 17th and 18th (Enlightenment) centuries, simultaneous to the European expansion, which resulted in colonialism, exploitation and slave trade.
1 This particular scene can be viewed on YouTube. Watched online on 7 Jan. 2019. “Black Panther: Museum
Scene HD Complete.” YouTube, uploaded by Music Wizard, 5 May 2018,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYwr6Q1Hl_4.
2 Mignolo, Walter D., and Catherine E. Walsh. On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analytics, Praxis. Duke University
4 During the 19th century, the museum as we know it today was developed.3 The establishment of the European nation states caused an urge for national leaders to gather collections that represented the nation’s history, knowledge, wealth and power. This illustrates the direct link museums have with coloniality. Whereas the decolonial discourse with regard to museums mainly focuses on national and ethnographic museums, this thesis will focus on museums of modern and contemporary art. More specifically, this thesis will analyse three permanent collection displays of modern and contemporary art and examine if and how these exhibitions treat issues concerning coloniality.
Repatriation and the Changing Vocabulary of Museums
It is not a strange development that National Museums and ethnographical museums aim to deal with the colonial past, as their collections consist of a tremendous amount of cultural artefacts taken from former colonies. The repatriation of these artefacts is a concrete action for National and ethnographic museums in their aim to act fairly in the light of the historical unjust done during the European expansion.4
Another recent development and key factor in dealing with the colonial past is the changing vocabulary in museums. After all, language is not neutral, as the choice of certain words, phrases and perspectives (un)consciously can have an exclusionary effect.5 In 2015, the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands started a project to change the problematic vocabulary used in their database, archives and in the exhibition texts.6 Together with the National Museum of World Cultures (NMWC), the Rijksmuseum worked on the publication Words Matter, published in 2018, to support museums in decolonising their language providing them a list of (non)racial words. Museums hope to change and shape our perception of the world and the way
3 Bergvelt, Ellinoor, and Mieke Rijnders, editors. Kabinetten, Galerijen En Musea. Het Verzamelen En Presenteren Van Naturalia En Kunst Van 1500 Tot Heden. Rev. Ed. WBOOKS, 2013.
4 French President Macron instigated a research project to investigate the possibilities French national museums
have in terms of repatriation of colonial artefacts. The NMWC and Rijksmuseum have followed with instigating their own restitution policies in 2018 and 2019. These developments merely function in this thesis to illustrate recent developments in Western-European countries with regard to their former colonies. If you are interested to learn more, you can read these policies online. The French rapport is accessible via the following link:
http://restitutionreport2018.com/; The policy of the NMWC is accessible here:
https://www.volkenkunde.nl/en/about-volkenkunde/press/dutch-national-museum-world-cultures-nmvw-announces-principles-claims; The press release of the Rijksmuseum can be accessed here:
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/research/provenance-research-into-colonial-collections.
5 Lelijveld, Robin. “Heden Van Het Slavernijverleden: Een Poging Tot Museale Dekolnisering.” Article, 22 Apr.
2019, p. 15.
6 Kammer, Claudia. “In Het Museum Heet Een Negerbediende Voortaan Een Jonge Zwarte Bediende.” NRC Handelsblad, 12 Dec. 2015, www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2015/12/12/in-het-museum-heet-een-negerbediende-voortaan-een-1566431-a749694 and Lange, Henny de. “Neger, Wijf En Moor Taboe in Rijksmuseum.” Trouw, 10 Dec. 2015, www.trouw.nl/home/neger-wijf-en-moor-taboe-in-rijksmuseum~af9fd0f9/. Both accessed online, 10 May 2019.
5 we interpret what we see around us, using our past to think about our future.7 They do so by decolonising the vocabulary that is used to describe the objects, its maker, location of origin, as well as by decolonising the use of words to explain the cultural, historical and/or artistic context. Of course, languages are continuously changing and the suggested changes in the publication can be disputed. Nonetheless, it is important to open up the discussion on the vocabulary used in exhibitions.
Take for example the case study of the collection display at Fundação de Serralves, a museum of modern and contemporary art in Porto, Portugal. In Serralves Collection:
1960-1980 (May 2017 – Jan. 2018) the museum uses words such as ‘globalisation’ to prove they are
up to date with contemporary art historical and sociological debates. These words, however, were lacking in meaning as the museum did not provide any further (verbal) context throughout the exhibition.8 Curators of the Fundação de Serralves thus expect its visitors to know about the Western art historical narrative in relation to the contemporary themes such as globalisation. This example illustrates Van Abbemuseum’s curator Steven ten Thije’s argument that most museums of modern and contemporary art are solely experienced and understood by a white, Western, higher educated audience and that these museums are considered to be a toy for what he calls ‘the globalised elite.’9 In the analysis of the permanent collection display of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in chapter two, this thesis will demonstrate that the use of vocabulary accompanying the works of art can give a profound understanding of the decolonial discourse and other contemporary sociological issues.
The Canon
Museums function as educational institutions, responsible for taking a stance and to guide its society through complex societal developments.10 The practice of changing the vocabulary in museums and the restitution projects of non-Western artistic objects are obvious and concrete steps for the decolonisation of museums. But for museums of modern and contemporary art,
7 Schoonderwoerd, Stijn. “Foreword.” Words Matter: An Unfinished Guide to Word Choices in the Cultural Sector, edited by Wayne Modest and Robin Lelijveld, National Museum of World Cultures, 2018, pp. 7–12.
Accessed online 10 Jul. 2019, via https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english.
8 Schans, Marleen. “Van Abbemuseum & Fundação de Serralves: Permanent Collection Presentations in times of
Globalisation and Decolonisation.” 3. Aug. 2018. Current Issues: Excursion Abroad, University of Amsterdam, student paper.
9 Thije, Steven ten. The Emancipated Museum. Mondriaan Fonds, 2016, pp 37-53.
10 Eilean Hooper-Greenhill wrote a book on this subject in 1992, called Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge.
In addition, the most recent museum definition, formulated by ICOM in 2007, talks about the educational and societal role of the museum as well: “A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.” Fall 2019 a renewed museum definition will be published.
6 decolonial practice this practice is less obvious and often disregarded. History has shown that museums can have a big influence on the shaping of knowledge through their exhibitions. Take for example the exhibition Cubism and Abstract Art at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, curated by Alfred Barr Jr. in 1936. The cover for the exhibition catalogue illustrates perfectly how Barr envisioned the development of modern art as a synchronic, linear development of “isms” (fig. 1). With this approach, he took up an international approach emphasising a shift of Western European avant-gardism to the abstract expressionism of New York. It is worth noting that this international approach was limited to art produced in Western-European countries and North America, excluding artists and works of art made in countries elsewhere. It was both bold and visionary for its time, which is one of the reasons the exhibition achieved such an iconic status. The exhibition has formed the basis of most art-historical textbooks and curricula, which in turn have accepted Barr’s story as the story of modern art.11 Yet, it is this linear structure that enables parochialism, focusing only on works of art and artists that fit in these boxes, making it possible to easily exclude all that do not fit in.
The acceptance of Barr’s story of modern art as the story of art illustrates the important role museums can play in shaping knowledge. The adaption of the exhibition as the story also demonstrates how difficult it can be to realise that there is no such thing as one truth. Many museums of modern art have until recently presented their collections in a chronological, linear order. With the growing awareness of the exclusivity of such a singular narrative, more and more attention has been given over the past three decades by art historians and cultural sociologists to break away from this traditional, limiting approach. The focus has shifted towards an ‘inclusive’ art historical narrative, by instigating new academic fields such as ‘World Art Studies’, dealing with artistic practice outside the west. Several scholars working the field of art history are trying to formulate concepts and theories to define this changing focus. For example, art historian and curator Nicholas Bourriaud formulated altermodernity to describe the twenty-first-century art and curatorial practice, whilst art historians Peter Weibel and Hans Belting claim that art historical theory is being rewritten by adding other perspectives and new narratives.
Furthermore, since the 1990s independent art spaces, such as Framer Framed in Amsterdam, have established to organise temporary thematic exhibitions around societal topics such as decoloniality. In addition, temporary exhibitions and biennials have been giving profound attention to this subject matter as well, such as Documenta and the Venice Biennial.
7 Late Nigerian art historian Okwui Enwezor (1963 – 2019) was appointed as the first African curator of Documenta XI from 1998 – 2002 and of the Venice Biennale in 2015. He named his Venice Biennale exhibiton All The World’s Futures, for which he selected 136 artists hailing from 53 countries. Most of these artists came from Africa and Asia, of which 88 exhibited their works of art for the first time at the Biennale.
Nancy Jouwe accurately observes that within art history and theory the phenomena of rewriting the canon is intensively discussed, with multiple attempts to expand it, to broaden it up.12 She claims that within museums and art institutional practice, however, this rewriting is little reflected. Although these institutions are known to be ‘innovative’ and the contemporary art world is considered to be ‘progressive,’ they persist in forms of selective blindness and mechanisms of exclusion that are historically embedded. This illustrates that museums of modern and contemporary art are capable and willing to address the problematic, limiting aspects of the Western traditional art historical canon and their colonial roots. Many examples can be given of temporary exhibitions and events that open up the discussion on (de)coloniality through the practice of changing vocabulary and by giving artists from outside the Western art historical canon a temporary stage. It is worth noting the word ‘temporary’ here, as exhibitions of permanent collections are usually left out of these discussions. It might be suggested, however, that these collections actually offer a better understanding of the colonial past, as they have been formed throughout the past century and show the ruptures and changing attitudes of curators and directors throughout time. This is exactly why this thesis claims that these collections should not be left out of the decolonial discourse.
Research
The permanent collection presentations in museums of modern and contemporary art are often left out of curatorial analysis in relation to decolonial discourse. Recent publications, such as
The Global Contemporary and the Rise of New Art Worlds (Hans Belting, Andrea Buddensieg,
Peter Weibel (eds.), 2013), Curatorial Activism (Maura Riley, 2019), Changing Perspectives:
Critical Views on Collecting and Presenting Contemporary Art (Mariska ter Horst (eds.),
2012), The Transhistorical Museum (Eva Wittocx, et. al. (eds.), 2017) all discuss temporary exhibitions (exhibitions that have been on show for a maximum of six months) to illustrate the issues of contemporary art and museology in relation to the contemporary globalising, decolonising world. It is an omission to not include permanent collection displays of museums
12 Bouwhuis, Jelle, and Nancy Jouwe. “Ontleren in Het Museum. Nancy Jouwe En Jelle Bouwhuis - Reflections
#3 ( MOED & Joyce Vlaming in Centraal Museum).” MetropolisM, 17 Apr. 2019. Accessed 20 Jul. 2019, via:
8 of modern and contemporary art in the discourse, as these exhibitions serve as a tool for the bigger understanding and shaping the knowledge of (Western) art history. Moreover, permanent collection displays are usually on show for a longer period, giving room for the curators to create multiple layered, detailed and complex multiple narratives for the visitor to comprehend. If we are to decolonise museums and the Western art historical canon, we cannot omit the permanent collection displays in museums of modern and contemporary art, as these institutions are important, if not the most important, places where art history functions publicly.13
This thesis aims to include the permanent collection displays of museum of modern and contemporary art into the decolonial discourse, asking what exactly the role of these permanent collections is and whether they should be included in the decolonial discourse. By analysing three different permanent collection displays it aims to provide insights into how collections can be used to address (de)colonial issues and to bring these to a wider audience. In addition, it will critique how decolonial thought and the project of delinking is reflected in these presentations. To be able to analyse the subject matter, a societal and cultural analytical approach has been chosen, combined with an art historical approach, as a large part of the research investigates societal and cultural theories that can be reflected upon the art historical narrative. This socio-cultural approach allows the research to take a step back in order to examine the art historical canon and permanent collection displays in a critical manner.
As was illustrated above, Latin American decolonial scholars claim that modernity has a darker side, coloniality. If we follow this line of thought, ‘Modern’ art is, like modernity, inevitably and implicitly connected with its darker side, coloniality. Should museums with a collection of ‘modern’ art deal with this darker side? And if so, how does a museum successfully address the darker side in a collection display? The first chapter of this thesis will provide an extensive theoretical framework in order to be able to answer these questions later, through the analysis of three different permanent collection displays. First, attention will be given to the theory of rewriting, explained by German artist and curator Peter Weibel in 2013 and elaborated upon by Dutch art historian Hestia Bavelaar. Second, the concept of altermodernity as proposed by French art critic and curator Nicolas Bourriaud will be explained. These two approaches, however, seem to be limiting as they are formulated in the West by Western scholars. Lastly, the theory of decoloniality and its pragmatic project of delinking as formulated by Latin American scholar Walter Mignolo will be drawn into the framework trying to move beyond the Western boundaries. This chapter will thus critically review the exhibitions and theories
13 Bouwhuis, Jelle. “De kunsthistorische Ander: Kunstgeschiedenis in Dekoloniaal Perspectief.” Article, 22 Apr.
9 mentioned above and eventually will try to come up with practical tools to decolonise collection presentations of museums of modern and contemporary art.
The analysis of these three exhibitions can be found in chapter two. For the purpose of this research limitations have been drawn to focus on two museums in the Netherlands and one in Germany that are in the possession of a collection of works of art created in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Because each of these museums has different roots and origins, they all have a very different approach to their collection and organisation structure. These differences are visible in their collection displays and therefore make it possible to compare the different approaches of display methods in relation to the current decolonial debate.
The first museum to be discussed, is the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, founded in 1874 and considerably the most well-known museum for modern and contemporary art in the Netherlands. The Stedelijk Museum is trying to actively engage with the current societal debates, by organising talks, events and temporary exhibitions. Its mission is to enrich the life of people with modern and contemporary art and design, and providing them with a better understanding of our present society.14 To fulfil its mission, the museum often organises temporary events and exhibitions. One good example is the three-year project Global
Collaborations, launched in 2013, focusing on the global art practice, especially in those
upcoming regions such as Africa, the Middle-East and South-East Asia.15 For this project, the museum organised several temporary exhibitions and a diverse programme of activities, such as roundtable discussions and lectures. Part of this three-year project was the temporary exhibition HOW FAR HOW NEAR – the world in the Stedelijk (19 Sept. 2014 – 31 Jan. 2015), which centred around the question of how museum collections and exhibition policies, historically and presently, are limited and challenged in relation to geographical emphasis, arguing for a greater focus on art from regions outside Europe and North America, using its own collection as its starting point.16 This project and exhibition illustrate the museum’s recent aims to pay more attention to art from other regions of the world.
In December 2017, the Stedelijk Museum celebrated the opening of their renewed museum model and collection display. Former director Beatrix Ruf divided the building into
14 Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Organisation. Accessed 11 Aug. 2019, via: https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/museum/organisation.
15 Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. “GLOBAL COLLABORATIONS.” 5 Nov. 2013. Accessed 11 Aug. 2019, via: https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/digdeeper/global-collaborations.
16 Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. “HOW FAR HOW NEAR – the World in the Stedelijk.” Exhibition. 19 Sept.
10 three parts. The first is called STEDELIJK BASE, located in the renewed annex building (commonly known as ‘the bathtub’ because of its shape), which shows the collection of the museum through a new model of presentation. Secondly, STEDELIJK TURNS shows temporary exhibitions with hidden, repressed works of art from the depot that almost never have been exhibited before on the ground floor of the original museum building. These frequent changing presentations of the collection might influence the collection display of STEDELIJK BASE. Lastly, located on the first floor of the original building, temporary exhibitions are presented under the name of STEDELIJK NOW. The focus in the research at hand lies solely on
STEDELIJK BASE.
The second museum to be discussed is the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. The museum was founded in 1936 as a way to preserve and exhibit the collection of Dutch contemporary and modern art, collected by cigar manufacturer Henri van Abbe who generated wealth and success through his tobacco business in one of the Netherlands’ former colonies, Indonesia. The museum thus has a direct link to the colonial past. Since the appointment of director Charles Esche in 2004, the museum has been actively engaging in the decolonial discourse, by organising research groups, events and temporary exhibitions dealing with the colonial past, trying to actively engage with minorities in Dutch society.
Because of their active role in the national debate, the museum serves as an important pillar in this research. In September 2017 the museum opened their renewed permanent collection display, which is separated into two main exhibitions. On the ground floor of the original collection building the first part, named The Making of Modern Art, can be found. This exhibition deals with the Western art practice before the World War II. In the large hall circuit of the collection building the second part, named The Way Beyond Art, can be found. This part deals with artworks made after the World War II. The focus in the research at hand lies solely on The Making of Modern Art.
Lastly, the third collection display to be discussed is Hello World. Revising a Collection at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart in Berlin. The museum is part of the umbrella organisation Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and opened its doors in 1987, after the old eponymous train station had been unused for 40 years. At first sight, the museum might be a strange addition to the research corpus as it is a fairly young museum located in Germany, a country that has a completely different national history and colonial past. Moreover, it is a museum that has a temporary exhibition policy: all exhibitions last no longer than six months. Although the museum differs on many aspects as compared to the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Van Abbemuseum, it has been chosen as it organised an exhibition in 2018
11 that dealt with the question of how a collection predominantly committed to the art of Western Europe and North America can broaden its scope through non-Western artistic tendencies and a transcultural approach.17 Because of this, the exhibition Hello World. Revising a Collection might provide insightful views on the topic.
The analysis of the three case studies will not solely focus on the non-Western works of art present in the collection and it will therefore not be a collection analysis. Instead, it will focus on what choices these museums have made to exhibit the works of art in their collections and on what narrative is told by them, what dialogue is opened up for the visitors to engage with. As museums are important institutions shaping knowledge, a focus is placed on the narratives museums represent. Some art historians, cultural anthropologists, curators and other scholars might suggest that decolonisation can only be realised through the acquisition of non-Western and decolonial works of art, but this process and its rationale is not visible to the public. These works seem to end up immediately in the museum’s depot most of the time, not accessible to the general public. It is the exhibition made with these works of art that tells a narrative visitors will come to understand. Exhibitions therefore function as an important tool in decolonising knowledge.
In the third and final chapter a conclusion will be formulated providing an answer to the question of how permanent collection displays in museums of modern and contemporary art can be used within the decolonial discourse, based on the results from the analysis in chapter two. Here, it will be outlined that museums of modern and contemporary art have ample tools to make choices on several levels to create paths towards decoloniality.
17 Stoff, Julia and Ströbel, Iris (eds.). Hello World. Revising a Collection. Exhibition booklet. Staatliche Museen
13
1. Theoretical Framework
“In this pilgrimage in search of modernity I lost my way at many points only to find myself again. I returned to the source and discovered that modernity is not outside but within us. It is today and the most ancient antiquity; it is tomorrow and the beginning of the world; it is a thousand years old and yet newborn. It speaks in Nahuatl, draws Chinese ideograms from the ninth century, and appears on the television screen.”
– Octavio Paz, 199018
Introduction
1989 can be considered a year in which a significant cultural shift occurred. It was a year during which the Soviet Union fell, as did the Berlin Wall. These events caused a change in the way the world was divided: the division of First, Second and Third Worlds was not applicable anymore, for the Second World ceased to exist. That year also hosted two revolutionary exhibitions, Magiciens de la Terre at the Centre Georges Pompidou and Grand Halle de la Vilette in Paris and The Other Story at the Hayward Gallery in London. Both exhibitions tried to challenge the Western (or First World) hegemony in art history by including, or solely focussing on, non-Western (or Third World) artists. Since that year, increasing attention has been given to the social structure of the world. Terms such as postcolonialism, postmodernism, neo-colonialism, multiculturalism, interculturalism, globalism and globalization were coined to illustrate the complex situation of Western culture and thinking, and its continuing hegemony over the rest of the world. According to many, decolonisation is not a closed chapter, but very much still relevant. Several theories have been developed to understand the changing position of art and museums in the decolonised society, of which Nicholoas Bourriaud’s altermodernity, Peter Weibel’s theory of rewriting and Walter Mignolo’s theory of decoloniality are major examples. This chapter will critically review the exhibitions and theories mentioned above and eventually will try to come up with practical tools to decolonise collection presentations of museums of modern and contemporary art.
As mentioned in the Introduction, museums are important institutions when it comes to shaping knowledge and writing history. Nonetheless, examples of exhibitions illustrating the growing awareness and changing attitudes towards the Western hegemony are often located in
18 Paz, Octavio. “In Search of the Present.” Nobel Prize Lecture. 8 Dec. 1990 Accessed 21 Jul. 2019, via: https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1990/paz-lecture.html.
14 Western museums, curated by Western art historians and/or curators and/or museum directors. Whilst museums are currently focussing on decolonising their institution, art history’s main focus lies on the implementation of other art histories into the art historical narrative related to globalisation. Art historian Hestia Bavelaar illustrates these academic developments towards a global art history and theory in her essay Re-Imagining the Western Art History Discipline in
an Age of Globalization (2015).19 Here, she observes two main approaches in the art historical discourse: a contextual approach, which tries to understand art in its original context; and a universal approach, trying to understand art as a universal commodity, claiming the intrinsic values of art are universal. These two approaches combined form the current framework for writing contemporary art history. Eventually, she claims that “the best way to define a new art history is not by imposing radical solutions, but by gradually introducing new valuable changes, that follow from an open and critical mind.”
Bavelaar refers to intercultural comparative analysis as a means to increase transcultural understanding by highlighting differences as well as discovered universal patterns.20 She further claims that by using the Western art historical perspective as a starting point (provided its own assumptions, blind spots and preoccupations are defined), the existing canonical thinking can be adapted “through a critical and conscious attitude towards the own position and the acquaintance with other cultures and the way they are studied.”21 Of course, many present day art historians find their art historical base in this Western traditional perspective, which has been useful in forming an in-depth understanding of the Western culture. However, if we are to decolonise art historical practice, or in Bavelaar’s words, if we are to define a new art history, it is exactly this Western hegemonical perspective that we might need to leave behind.
As art historian Hans Belting illustrates, most non-Western modernist movements were excluded from official Western art history not because “they were ‘forgotten;’ they were rather dismissed in order to keep the picture of modernism clear.”22 The following two exhibitions illustrate the continuous Western hegemony in art and museum history. In 1989, Pakistani-born, London-based artist Rasheed Araeen curated the exhibition The Other Story. Afro-Asian Artists
in Post-War Britain at the Hayward Gallery, London. Araeen had already formulated his ideas
19 In her essay, she provides an extensive overview on art history books that have been published in the past 30
years to illustrate a changing mindset towards non-Western art and artists. Note: Bavelaar, Hestia. Re-Imagining
the Western Art History Discipline in an Age of Globalization. GlobeEdit, 2015. pp. 5-9. 20 Ibid, p. 17.
21 Ibid, p. 18.
22 Belting, Hans. “Contemporary Art as Global Art: A Critical Estimate.” The Global Art World. Audiences, Markets, and Museums. Hatje Cantz, 2009. p. 12.
15 for this exhibition in 1978. Despite multiple rejections by the Arts Council, he finally managed to persuade the director of the Hayward Gallery in 1989.
In the exhibition, Araeen included 24 Afro-Asian artists working and living in Britain and presented a strong focus on the relationship between Western modernism in the visual arts and these works of art, aiming to illustrate that “the absence of Black and Asian artists from the history of British modernism and national patrimony could only be attributed to racist discrimination,” as there were several non-Western artists working in the UK that developed an artistic signature in line with Western modernism.23 At the time, the exhibition gained a lot of attention and appraisal, as the exhibition toured to Wolverhampton and Manchester the following year. Yet, nowadays, when it comes to discussing the changing attitudes towards the Western hegemony in art history and museum practice, little attention has been given to the exhibition and it has made little difference to the institutional mindset so far, when it could function as a perfect illustration an example used to open up the traditional, Western art historical narrative.
In the same year, art historian Jean-Hubert Martin curated the exhibition Magiciens de
la Terre the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Grand Halle de la Vilette, Paris. This exhibition
is often referred to as being the first to consciously attempt to discover a post-colonialist way to exhibit objects together and as a first attempt to take non-Western art seriously. 24 Because of its aesthetical presumption, Martin avoided using the term ‘artists’ and referred to them as ‘magiciens,’ trying to emphasise the magical, universal qualities of art. It was exactly this lack of contextual elaboration that he was criticised for. Artist Rasheed Araeen pointed out that there was no theoretical and conceptual framework used to link these culturally different works of art and that Martin even used different criteria during the selection: “while African and Asian artists are identified by their own cultural roots, Western artists are recognized by their concern for cultures other than their own.”25 In addition, Martin was criticised because of his pretention to, as a white male art historian, be able to select non-Western artists and for the under-representation of female artists. In the face of these criticisms, Magiciens de la Terre is still seen as the exhibition said to have changed momentum, so much so that a revised version of the exhibition was organised 25 years later, in 2014, at the Centre Georges Pompidou.
23 Fisher, Jean. “The Other Story and the Past Imperfect.” Tate Papers. 12 (autumn) 2009. Accessed 16 Jul.
2019, via: https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/no-12/the-other-story-and-the-past-imperfect.
24 See for an elaborative description of the exhibition: Reilly, Maura. Curatorial Activism. Towards an Ethics of Curating. Thames & Hudson London 2018, pp. 106-111. For a more detailed overview of its criticism, see:
Bavelaar, Hestia. 2015 (note 18), pp. 14-15.
16 Jean Fisher describes the juxtaposition between these two exhibitions: “If Magiciens was instrumental in drawing global cultures into the orbit of Western institutions, initiating a ‘postmodern’ wave of neo-imperial ‘explorations’ of the exotic, the somewhat ironically titled
The Other Story was understood internationally, if not domestically, as a major breakthrough
in ‘de-imperialising’ the institutional mind.”26 Despite all efforts to address racial discrimination in the art world that followed after 1989, it seems that not much has changed. Institutional changes with regard to accepting non-Western artists and artists of colour as equals seem impossible to achieve. Even in 2016, film critic Richard Brody perfectly illustrates that “the underlying issue of the Academy’s failure to recognize black artists is the presumption that baseline experience is white experience and that black life is a niche phenomenon.”27 Here, he is talking about the Academy selecting the Oscar-winners, but the same can be said for the academic discourse of art history and museum studies. As Bavelaar proposes, we should use the Western traditional art history as a standard, a base, to further expand the narrative. This attitude does not seem to treat non-Western life as equal, instead it seems to validate the idea that the West is superior. So could the solution be to turn the art historical narrative upside down, starting from scratch by writing a non-Western history of art? Although this would definitely change the narrative, it would still keep the fundamental basis for the hierarchical structure intact.
This chapter will provide a more in-depth analysis of some of the theories to illustrate the contemporary art historical, cultural and museological situation. It will then try to establish a set of tools that can be used for the analysis of the three permanent collection displays in chapter two.
The theory of Rewriting
One prominent work of reference in defining the contemporary, globalised art scene is The
Global Contemporary and the Rise of New Art Worlds, edited by art historian Hans Belting,
curator and artist Peter Weibel and art historian Andrea Buddensieg in 2013. In one of the first chapters, Weibel introduces his own explanatory model, the theory of rewriting, to explain how globalisation has caused intensified encounters between different cultures, religions and between different ethnic and national identities:
26 Fisher, Jean. 2009 (note 22).
27 Brody, Richard. “The Oscar Whiteness Machine.” The New Yorker, Jan. 21, 2016. Accessed 17 Jul. 2019, via: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-oscar-whiteness-machine.
17
“Our perspective is that we are experiencing an epoch of rewriting programs: rewriting art history, rewriting political and economic history on a global scale. Translations and transfers from one culture to another, in a multilateral and multipolar world, no longer create the hegemony of an international art, but the evaluation of the local and the regional. We are witnessing the re-entry of forgotten and unforeseen parts of geography and history, we experience how historic concepts and events are re-enacted contemporary art and the contemporary world are part of a global rewriting program. We observe how Indian art rewrites European art and how European art rewrites Indian art, how European art rewrites Asian art and how Asian art rewrites North American art. We are witnessing new cartography of art in the making. What we see today is a rewriting of technologies, economies, politics, cultures, and art forms. We intend to expose the traces of these rewriting programs in global art that articulate the confluences and influences of cultures. In this sense we are living in a post ethnic age; we encounter the post ethnic state of art.”28
Now, to rewrite art history means to start with the foundation of the art historical canon that we still refer to today. As was mentioned above, art historian Bavelaar proposes to use Western art historical perspective as a starting point (when its own assumptions, blind spots and preoccupations are defined), to adapt the existing canonical thinking “through a critical and conscious attitude towards the own position and the acquaintance with other cultures and the way they are studied.”29 This could of course provide a better understanding of contemporary art, but how could a contemporary artwork made in Kazakhstan, for example, be defined and understood, if the work of art reconsiders its cultural history? We need to move towards an art theory practice that does not work with a fixed perspective to transcribe contemporary global works of art, instead we need to define a practice that fluctuates, that can consider both modern works of art made in Paris and in Kazakhstan. African curator Azu Nwagbogu shares this idea in the exhibition catalogue of the to-be-discussed exhibition Hello World. Revising a Collection. After stating that the idea of a fixed collection of works of art is becoming unsustainable
28 Weibel, Peter. “Globalization and Contemporary Art.” The Global Contemporary and the Rise of New Art Worlds. ZKM, 2013. p. 27.
18 because of globalisation and a growing awareness of coloniality, he proposes that an approach of a more fluid collection that can expand and embrace new mediums.30
Rewriting the Canon
The theory of rewriting presupposes that art historical museums, the institutions that have a profound influence on the formation of art history, can actually continue their practice without having to change their attitude. They just need to rearrange, add or translate, whilst operating within their established modernist framework. Art historian Gregor Langfeld focusses in his work on the formation and continuation of the art historical canon, its concepts and its approaches. He claims that it is of importance to understand the origins of the canon to be able to change it:
“A canon lays claim to permanence, as it is thought to be valid independent of time and place. Works of art that in their day were locked in an irreconcilable struggle with one another exist harmoniously side by side in the neutralised state of the canon and enter history. The institutionalised hierarchy of artists and styles is continually fed to society; it is ‘parroted’ out and accepted as something self-evident. For that reason alone, it is important to remain conscious of the canonisation processes that led and still lead to some artists being included in the canon and entering history and others being excluded.”31
Based on Langfeld’s claim, art historian and curator Jelle Bouwhuis points out that every attempt to expand the canon or to implement the idea of multiple canons continues to emphasise the exceptionality of the traditional art historical canon, which therefore continues to remain the fundamental base in art history.32 Changing the canon, whether through expansion or multiplication, would not change the fundamental Western hierarchy. The Western, hegemonic tradition would thus still remain the point of reference. The theory of rewriting thus proves a tool for expanding our knowledge on the current contemporary art scene, but does not provide useful tools for discussing non-Western practices.
Scholars active in the art historical and theoretical discourse often refer to this theory of rewriting, claiming that it is possible to ‘open up’ or ‘add narratives to’ the existing hegemonical
30 Beckstette, Sven and Nwagbogu, Azu. “Colomental. The Violence of Intimate Histories.” Hello World: Revising a Collection, edited by Udo Kittelman and Gabriele Knapstein, Hirmer Verlag, 2018, p. 359.
31 Langfeld, Gregor. “The Canon in Art History: Concepts and Approaches.” Journal of Art Historiography, no.
19, Dec. 2018, p. 1.
19 art historical canon in order to give attention to globalisation and colonial pasts. Yet, this canonical expansion is hardly reflected in museums and other art historical institutions. As we have seen in the introduction, museums have had a profound influence on the establishment of the art historical canon. It would therefore be ignorant to leave museums out of this discussion. But what can museums actually do to come to terms with the growing awareness of the problematic side of the art historical canon?
Altermodernity
As the previous section has illustrated, the theory of rewriting aims to expand the Western art historical canon, but with the tools that are provided, this can only be carried out within the same Western hierarchical framework. Another theorist that has introduced a concept trying to deal with the contemporary changing art scene is art critic and curator Nicolas Bourriaud. In 2009 he published The Radicant, a book that he wrote between 2005 and 2007 providing some theoretical reflections on contemporary art in the twenty-first century. Here, he claims that “postmodern multiculturalism has failed to invent an alternative to modernist universalism.” Within this framework of postmodernism, an artwork is still inevitably explained by the ‘condition,’ ‘status’ or ‘origin’ of its author.33 Using the botanical radicant, a plant that grows its roots from its stem, like ivy, Bourriaud illustrates that the contemporary artist is “setting one’s roots in motion, staging them in heterogeneous contexts and formats, denying them the power to completely define one’s identity, translating ideas, transcoding images, transplanting behaviours, exchanging rather than imposing.”34
Following his claim that postmodernism has failed to offer a constructive framework to define the globalising artworld, Bourriaud introduces the concept of altermodernity, a concept that he believes will allow to create intercultural connections. Because the contemporary artist is a wanderer, travelling through time and space, translating the world he encounters, altermodernity promises to be a translation-oriented modernity.35 The altermodern artist is considered to be a Semionaut, a semiotic explorer, who is able to “transcode signs, to reinterpret them, translate them, subtitle them and repatriate them. Art becomes hypertext, linking together signs and symbols; the output becoming the journey, and vice versa.”36 Replace ‘artist’ with ‘curator’ and an altermodern curatorial practice is defined. Altermodernity does not consider
33 Bourriaud, Nicolas. The Radicant. Sternberg Press, 2009, p. 34. 34 Bourriaud, Nicolas. 2009 (note 32) p. 22.
35 Bourriaud, Nicolas. 2009 (note 32) pp. 40-43.
36 Holloway, Timothy. Altermodernism, 2011. p. 21. Accessed 3 Aug. 2019, via: https://issuu.com/timoholloway/docs/altermodern_final_web1.
20 the world to be fixed in time and space and implies that art should not be considered in that context either. It acknowledges that there are certain developments within the world that cannot be explained according to postmodernist theory anymore: “multiculturalism and the discourse of identity is being overtaken by a planetary movement of creolisation; cultural relativism and deconstruction, substituted for modernist universalism, give us no weapons against the twofold threat of uniformity and mass culture and traditionalist, far-right, withdrawal.”37
What altermodernity offers, that postmodernity does not, is illustrated in the eponymous exhibition that Bourriaud curated for the Tate Triennial in 2009. Based on the model of an archipelago, he tried to show how clusters of artists, ideas and cultures are intrinsically linked but not homogenised. To do so, Bourriaud divided the exhibition into eight thematical areas, which were functioning as islands on a map (fig. 2). These eight themes, or islands in the archipelago, were given the names of Energy, Travel, Viatorisation, Borders, Archive, Exiles, Heterochronia and Docu-fiction. A website was designed to provide a more in-depth background on altermodernity, these themes and the exhibited artists. Here, it becomes clear how Bourriaud’s idea of the contemporary artist as ‘homo viator,’ a traveller or nomad, relates to concept of the radicant, as the selected artists fall within more than one of the above-mentioned themes/islands. The ‘paths’ that the artist has been walking across these different islands can be considered as the roots the radicant sprouts from its stem.
The selection of the artists and works of art in the exhibition are claimed to be some of the best that current British art has to offer, alongside international artists who are working with similar themes. Having a closer look on the artists and their origins, it becomes clear that the majority of artists are in fact British artists, living and working in Britain. Where the theory of altermodernity tries to offer a new definition to the current contemporary art scene, the choice to mainly focus on British artists is quite remarkable. One would expect the exhibition to illustrate the contemporary, global situation, where indeed many artists are able to travel the world and in which differences are equal. Focussing almost solely on British artists that travel and translate their experiences into works of art seems to be a very limited approach to the theory of altermodernity as proposed in The Radicant.
Even though altermodernity focuses on twenty-first-century artists and their art practice, it is possible to translate the concept to present day curatorial practice. As has been established above, altermodern artists translate their experiences, their intercultural manoeuvrings, into art.
37 Bourriaud, Nicolas. Altermodern Manifesto. Tate Britain, 2009. Accessed 20 Jul. 2019, via: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/altermodern/altermodern-explain-altermodern/altermodern-explained.
21 Altermodern curatorial practice could thus mean to offer a translation of intercultural encounters between works of art, artists and collections, to provide a fundamental understanding of what is going on in the globalising art world. It offers a dialogue between artists working with different media and within different themes.
The difficulty with the concept of altermodernity, however, lies mainly in the prefix ‘alter,’ as it suggests an opposition to modernity by definition. If twentieth-century modernism has come to its end, the term illustrates an ‘other’ modernity, keeping the division between original versus other intact and therefore it does not escape from classic modernist Western thought. You cannot use the prefix ‘alter’ without bringing a differentiation/opposition into the world.
Theory of Decoloniality
This is exactly what decolonial theory wants to avoid. In this section, a theory that moves beyond both altermodernity and rewriting is discussed. Focussing largely on the writings of Latin-American semiotician Walter Mignolo, decoloniality aims to move beyond binary oppositions and differences between one and another without erasing and/or denying these them. As Ivan Muñiz-Reed strikingly observes, Mignolo and his fellow decolonial scholars argue that concepts and theories such as postmodernity, altermodernity, rewriting and globalisation, operate within the academic field, constructing a “Eurocentric critique of Eurocentrism.”38 These concepts and theories can give a proper framework to describe the complexity at hand, but they lack the commitment to move forward from that complexity.
Before expanding on the contents of decolonial thought, considering a ‘decolonial critique’ of terms such as inclusion and postcoloniality can prove insightful. Postcolonial theorists worked on deconstructing the Western narrative, in order to lay bare underlying mechanisms and to give voice to ‘the Other’ by turning mechanisms around. Western narrative was ‘replaced’ by a narrative voiced by the Other. Thus, one could say that postcolonialists were limited in expanding the horizon, because they merely replaced one hierarchical system with another, while the underlying principles of the system remained at work and, as a consequence, the system perpetuated and was even reinforced. This critique can also be applied to the concept of inclusion. As Mignolo states, “inclusion is a one-way street and not a reciprocal right.”39 Inclusion could even be seen as a colonial act: to incorporate, to govern. Focussing on the inclusion of a certain individual, group or groups cannot be done without
38 Muñiz-Reed, Ivan. “Thoughts on Curatorial Practices in the Decolonial Turn.” OnCurating, Dec. 2017,.p. 101. 39 Mignolo, Walter. The Darker Side of Western Modernity: Global Futures, Decolonial Options. Duke
22 excluding others. Again, the underlying principles of the hierarchical system remain at work and are even reinforced.
The museums of modern and contemporary art to be discussed in chapter two operate within a Eurocentric framework. Bouwhuis has recognised this, claiming that traditional art history would be an instant victim of decolonial thinking, as the Eurocentric idea of aesthetics would collapse.40 The decolonial project would lead to a tremendous attenuation and fragmentation of the art historical canon. Each attempt to broaden the art historical canon through telling ‘the Other story,’ or by substituting the canon with multiple canons emphasises the exclusivity of the traditional canon, which in turn remains the universal doctrine in art history. It can change components within the hierarchy, but it cannot change the underlying principles of the hierarchal structure. This provides European museums with a difficult paradox. What does this paradox mean for museums in general, but more specifically for the three museums that will be analysed in the next chapter?
If museums would be as radical as Mignolo proposes, it would mean they would stop presenting their Eurocentric collections altogether and, as a consequence, cease to exist. That cannot be the solution for dealing with coloniality. But one can try to find a less radical decolonial position within an institution with European roots and a European future. Decoloniality is pragmatic and therefore can offer a workable framework. In order to find a decolonial position that can work as an analytical framework with which to analyse the three cases in the next chapter, the following section will dive deeper into decolonial theory as proposed by Mignolo.
Modernity/Coloniality/Decoloniality
Even though one could argue that the period of colonisation has ended decades ago, it is very clear that the colonial structures that have defined the Western world (and in extension this can be said of the entire world), are still present in today’s world. The formal colonial rule of European countries over other countries has ended, but nonetheless coloniality “has persisted through structural forms of privilege and bias.”41 These structural forms of privilege and bias are governed by the colonial matrix of power. In the words of Anibal Quijano, the ‘founding father’ of the concept of (de)coloniality, coloniality is “a matrix of power that produces racial and gender hierarchies on the global and local level, functioning alongside capital to maintain
40 Bouwhuis, Jelle. 2019 (note 13), p. 5-6. 41 Muñiz-Reed, Ivan. 2017 (note 37), p. 99.
23 a modern regime of exploitation and domination.”42 Having control over other cultures in the form of coloniality has remained the Western mindset and perpetuates in racial, gender, economic, political and educational relations in the world we know today. It frames our actions, thoughts, knowledge and choices. Knowledge-producing institutions such as museums are an integral part of this colonial matrix.
According to Mignolo, coloniality is inseparably tied to modernity. In his most recent book, On Decoloniality, the conceptual triad of modernity/coloniality/decoloniality is outlined. These three concepts are intrinsically linked with each other. ‘Modernity’ is considered to be the ensemble of socio-cultural norms, attitudes and practices that arose in Europe in the 16th century (Renaissance), which developed throughout the 17th and 18th (Enlightenment) centuries. Racism, colonialism, exploitation, expropriation, and slave trade are modernity’s ‘shadows.’ These shadows, the (un)intended consequences of the narratives of modernity, form what is described as coloniality. Coloniality is thus the darker, hidden side of modernity, as promoted by institutions and corporations, industrialised nation-states, museums and research institutions. Coloniality can only be viewed from outside the West, but this does not mean that Western people cannot and/or will not understand, it means that these shadows, these darker narratives only exist outside the borders of the West. As a consequence, it is the task of decoloniality to unveil these narratives, processes and this logic.43
“They are a signpost of conflicting enunciations: the rhetoric of ‘modernity,’ and its continuing promises of salvation; and the logic of ‘coloniality,’ the continuing hidden process of expropriation, exploitation, pollution, and corruption that underlies the narrative of modernity, as promoted by institutions and actors belonging to corporations, industrialized nation-states, museums, and research institutions. ‘Decoloniality’ appears in-between modernity/coloniality as an opening, as a possibility of overcoming their completeness. Decoloniality refers to the variegated enunciations springing from global-local histories entangled with the local imperial history of Euro-American modernity, postmodernity, and altermodernity.” (Mignolo & Vazquez Decolonial AestheSis 2013)
42 English translation found in Muñiz-Reed, Ivan. 2017 (note 37), p. 99. He refers to the following two articles:
Quijano, Anibal. “Colonialidad del poder, cultura y conocimiento en América Latina.”Anuario Mariateguiano, Vol. 9, No. 9, 1997; Quijano, Anibal. “Colonialidad y modernidad-racionalidad,” En Perú Indígena, Vol. 13, No. 29,1992.
24 The Project of Delinking
To end coloniality, it is thus necessary to end the fictional narratives of modernity. Decoloniality should not be understood as a new conceptual system. Rather, to use Mignolo’s words, it “presupposes border thinking or border epistemology in the precise sense that the Western foundation of modernity and of knowledge is on the one hand unavoidable and on the other highly limited and dangerous.”44 The border that Mignolo refers to lies where Western culture has been contacting other cultures. The universalisation of the Western regional culture is a consequence of its colonial expansion. This does not mean that modernity needs to be rewritten or overturned or that the world needs to be de- or re-Westernised. Decoloniality rather functions as a means to understand the constructs of the Western hegemony and its darker narratives, but it does not aim to end the Western hegemony per se. To move into the direction of liberation, to open the path towards it, it is necessary to delink our knowledge and living associated with modernity. The starting point is the confrontation with and delinking from Eurocentrism. Or, as Muñiz-Reed describes it, “delinking is an ongoing ethico-political and epistemic project, which seeks to de-link from colonial structures that have persisted throughout modernity and which underpin Eurocentrism and systems of discrimination.”45
The project of delinking should enact a change of terminology and a change of the hegemonic, Eurocentric ideas of what knowledge is and what society should be, a change of the assumptions, regulations and principles of the conversations that construct our knowledge and belief systems.46 Each local history of the planet has to deal in one way or another with the modern/colonial world. Moreover, the project of delinking requires analysis of the establishment of the colonial differences and it requires visions and strategies to create these decolonial paths.47 The project of delinking thus functions between the regional and global and could be translated as a means to understand the regional traditions and practices within the global framework.
Mignolo further claims that this project of delinking can only be initiated by people within society. Decoloniality is thus a project to be carried out by society for society.48 This emphasises the fact that independent museums can put their potential role as a means for the development of society into practice, as museums can function as spaces where people can acquire knowledge and have their perceptions challenged. Museums are thus the places where
44 Mignolo, Walter D. “Delinking.” Cultural Studies, vol. 21, no. 2-3, 2007, p. 455. 45 Muñiz-Reed, Ivan. 2017 (see note 37), p. 99.
46 Mignolo Walter D., and Catherine E. Walsh. 2018 (see note 2), p. 223. 47 Mignolo, Walter D. 2007 (see note 43), p. 498.
25 these decolonial paths can be established. The paradox is, however, that art historical museums are institutions that promote and depend on modernity.49 For museum directors and curators it is thus a difficult task to dismantle, or in other words, to delink their curatorial and/or art historical practice. In cases where artists have been involved as curators of collections, they have created some of the most convincing exhibitions when it comes to decoloniality.50 AestheSis/AestheTics
Mignolo’s contribution to a decolonial art theory and museum practice focusses on ‘decolonial aestheSis/aestheTics.’51 Aesthesis and aesthetics are both ancient Greek concepts, the former broadly describing the senses, “an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation, a sensation of touch” and the latter broadly describing the concept of beauty, of the sublime. He further argues that German philosopher Immanuel Kant has absorbed aesthesis into his aesthetic theory. Hence, during the 18th century, aesthetics became a new concept incorporated in the colonial matrix of power and eventually a fundamental aspect of Western (modern) art history, playing a key role in configuring the canon that enabled the rejection of other forms aesthetic practices and other forms of aesthesis, of sensing and perceiving.
Muñiz-Reed extends this theory to art institutions and museums, as their curators function as gatekeepers of the beautiful and sublime: “Curators, who have become central figures in cultural production within the art historical canon, have the power to decide which (and how) histories are told. Perhaps Mignolo’s biggest criticism of Western art institutions (and the work of curators/critics such as Nicolas Bourriaud) is that in their articulation of a postmodern or altermodern aesthetic they often omit the violence perpetrated throughout modernity in the name of ‘progress’, ‘freedom’ and ‘peace’, and thereby propagate the silencing of suppressed histories.”52
As follows, decolonial aestheSis/aestheTics can be considered a “confrontation with modern aesthetics, and its aftermath (postmodern and altermodern aesthetics) to decolonise the regulation of sensing all the sensations to which our bodies respond, from culture as well as from nature.” In short, “‘decolonial aestheSis’ asks why Western aesthetic categories like ‘beauty’ or ‘representation’ have come to dominate all discussion of art and its value, and how those categories organise the way we think of ourselves and others: as white or black, high or
49 Mignolo, Walter, and Vazquez, Rolando. “Decolonial AestheSis: Colonial Wounds/Decolonial Healing.” Social Text, 15 July 2013. Accessed 20 Jul. 2019, via: https://socialtextjournal.org/periscope_article/decolonial-aesthesis-colonial-woundsdecolonial-healings/.
50 Muñiz-Reed, Ivan. 2017 (see note 37), p. 100.
51 Mignolo, Walter, and Vazquez, Rolando. 2013 (see note 48). 52 Muñiz-Reed, Ivan. 2017 (see note 37), p. 100.
