RLUK ICIL | Multivocality in Museum Collections Interpretation

Inclusive Collections, Inclusive Libraries is an RLUK programme of events that aims to foster conversation around decolonisation and inclusive practice in collecting, describing, presenting, and engaging with content in research library collections. It seeks to raise awareness about the opportunities and challenges of dealing with, contextualising, and engaging with offensive collections while also identifying and sharing examples of good practice.

Thursday 27 November 14:00 – 15:30 (GMT), 15:00 – 16:30 (CET/SAST), 16:00 – 17:30 (EET), 09:00 – 10:30 (EDT), 22:00 – 23:30 (AWST/CST)

TThis lecture explores decolonial museology through the case study of the Barbados Museum & Historical Society (BMHS), examining how the institution has sought to redistribute interpretive power and reimagine its collections as spaces of community-led knowledge sharing. Tracing the historical frameworks of museology in Barbados from its colonial origins to the shifting paradigms of post-independence and republic status the session situates local practice within global discourses of New Museology, anti-colonial resistance, and decolonial relationality (Mignolo).

Through projects such as Artistic Interventions (2018), LOOKA: Dismantling the Colonial Gaze (2024), and the Transoceanic Visual Exchange (TVE) triennial, the lecture highlights experimental models of democratic co-curatorship that foreground multivocality, accessibility, and community agency. These initiatives reflect a broader methodological framework developed by Dr. Natalie McGuire known as the Rhizomatic Research Methodology, which emphasises assemblage, relational ecologies, and localised approaches to decolonising knowledge production in museums.

By uncovering hidden narratives, interrogating visual hegemonies, and embracing collective authorship, the BMHS continues to challenge inherited structures of colonial museology. Ultimately, this talk proposes that decolonisation in museums is not a static act but an ongoing, relational process of redistributing institutional authority, amplifying community voices, and reconfiguring museums as living, multivocal ecologies of cultural meaning.

Joining details

This event will be held virtually via Zoom. Attendees will receiving joining details the day before and 30 minutes before the event. Please ensure email addresses are entered correctly during registration (you should receive a confirmation email soon after registering) and check junk folders if no emails are received. You will be held in a waiting room when you first join the session.