Post #6: The Evolution of a Project, The Re-birth of a Child

When I first decided on this project idea, I was thinking about identifying European influences in African and Asian museums because I thought it would be interesting to see just how much European museum practices have become the standard around the world. I wanted to add some sort of practical element to it, which I why I added the part about the African and Asian museums decolonizing their practices and incorporating their indigenous cultures. I knew I had to pick a case study institution in order to focus the discussion around specific museum practices. I eventually decided on Zimbabwe as the location for my case study because their museum community is working on decolonization and promotion of indigenous cultures. I picked the BaTonga Community Museum as the case study institution because it embodied the ideals of the Zimbabwean museum decolonization movement. Even though I had my case study and nation picked out, my research question still included the wide umbrella of "African and Asian museums." I realized that it was way too broad, so now, I am only focusing on Zimbabwe.

I will probably still talk about general decolonization applications, but that will likely only happen if I compare Zimbabwean museums to museums in other countries, discuss global museum trends, or propose general courses of action in the conclusion of the thesis. As my my project progresses, I can see it evolving to include more anthropological perspectives, since I would like to dig into why culturally informed museum practices are important, and how the public can be affected by them. Depending on what I learn about various Zimbabwean museums, I may change my case study to a different museum, but as of right now, I am working with my current pick.