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.

Post #5: The Light of Knowledge Shone Upon the Topic

Before saying what I have learned, I'll start with restating my research question, which has been recently revised, “How can African and Asian museums identify the European influences within their professional practices, deconstruct those influences, and form new models that better serve to reaffirm their native cultures?” Firstly, I have learned that Non-European museums are more willing to tackle controversial topics related to imperialism than European museums. For example, even in the French overseas territory of Reunion Island, in the planned Maison des Civilisations et de l’Unité Réunionnaise (MCUR), the staff was prepared to interpret the history of slavery on the island. Secondly, Non-European museums tend to interpret native cultural patrimony and ethnographic objects differently than European museums traditionally do. European museums have displayed these cultural objects as primitive or in such a way as to imply that the cultures that produced them are historical rather than modern. Museums in the countries/territories themselves, however, interpret their cultural objects as part of an ongoing story about the people -- the past informs both the present and the future. They want to distance themselves from a view that their cultures are primitive or dead.

Thirdly, I have learned about some of the challenges museums face in Africa and Asia. The MCUR was never ultimately created because of political backlash from the French mainland. Funding is a big problem in developing countries, where the central government does not have much money to spare to support cultural institutions. In recently independent countries, many museums face the struggle of convincing the public that they are no longer puppets of the former imperialist governments. Local communities often distrust museums because of the theft and appropriation of their cultural artifacts, and the apparent pandering to tourists. The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) is attempting to counteract these historical tensions and build relationships with communities by establishing "community museums" that promote local culture, including arts, language, and crafts. Because of the NMMZ's decolonizing efforts and culture affirmation, I have chosen one of their community museums, the BaTonga Community Museum as my case study.

I still need to learn about the sociological/anthropological reasons why it is important for a cultural group to have agency over the presentation of their own culture. It could also be interesting to look more into why communities distrust institutions. There may be some psychological and political aspects there. I also have to do more research about the history of European globalization and colonization, especially of the British in Zimbabwe.