WE EXPOSE MUSEUMS

My essay is informed by a recent visit to Museum Boijmans van Beuningen when I realized how "white" the museum is- from visitors to the people who work there, most of these people are white. Apart from the people who walked around, I noticed that almost every person depicted on the paintings is white. With the exception of one painting: ‘The decapitation of John the Baptist ‘(1856). Everyone in the painting is named except for the woman who is depicted as hiding behind Salomé. Nothing is written about her in the title or description. This while she is quite a significant figure in the painting. Because of this experience, I thought back to my internship at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam. I now realize how white it was there as well in terms of staff, who were also in their forties and university educated. . This is far from representative of the population of Rotterdam, the most multicultural city in the Netherlands. Rotterdam has more than 170 different ethnicities. How is it possible that the museum is still so white?

According to Wekker (2016) there is a reluctance among White Dutch people when we’re talking about history. Before we can make any change, we need to begin with accepting and taking responsibility of our history.. Taking responsibility means that we need to stop being innocent. ‘In White Innocence Gloria Wekker explores a central paradox of Dutch culture: the passionate denial of racial discrimination and colonial violence coexisting alongside aggressive racism and xenophobia.’

An example of our history that seems to be difficult to accept and take responsibility for is our ‘Golden Age’. We learn in our history books that this century meant prosperity for the Netherlands, the Netherlands was supreme and rich. However,how gold is this gold? As the gold that is referred to- such as - was acquired through exploitation or, rather, slavery and colonization. (Nzume 2017)

Another example Wekker (2016) cites concerns the Second World War. The Netherlands views itself as a victim of five years of violence and this has resulted in enormous trauma. Why is this so different from the centuries of colonialism and slave trade? That is the role we had. The Netherlands was not a victim, but a perpetrator. During the Second World War, thousands of people were raped, murdered and taken to concentration camps where children were taken away from their mothers. But why is this seen as worse than getting rich by slavery, raping, taking away children from their mothers and dehumanizing black people, which summarized the Golden Age?

Gloria Wekker (2016) refers to this in her book "White Innocence". The belief in one's own innocence is so enormous that the information that contradicts this self-image is simply pushed away. According to Wekker we must accept that the Netherlands is not as innocent as (we want to) believe.

How can the museum play a role in changing this innocent character we have?-
As Schoonderwoerd (2018) argues ''museums are often regarded as places that are exclusively devoted to beauty and are therefore neutral. Nothing is less true. Museums play a major role in the public domain, in how we see the world and in interpreting what is happening around us. Museums are visited by millions of people, who can challenge them to look critically at our history and reflect on the future."Schoonderwoerd, (2018, p7)

Before we can answer that question we need to have a closer look at museums. What is a museum? Generally the museum is seen as ‘an institution which exists ‘in order to acquire, safeguard, conserve, and display objects, artefacts and works of art of various kinds’ (Vergo, 1993 p. 41)… these terms have acquired far from abjective or neutral meanings.’(Hall, 2013 p. 171).
Museums still have a white western gaze on beauty. This goes back to the colonial time where museums/institutions showed artefacts in their ‘cabinets of curiosities’. This gaze can also be described as the west vs. the rest.
‘The idea of a museum was the belief that museums were an ideal vehicle for public instruction: by contemplating cultural artefacts on display, the common man/woman could become receptive to their improving influence. The belief in the ‘multiplication of culture’s utility was not restricted to museums but extended to art galleries and libraries. ‘(Hall, 2013, p163)

The role of the museum is slowly changing. Museums are starting to realize that they play a big part in this social debate.
Since a couple of years there has been a movement in the changing of titles and descriptions of works of art.
Language is an important tool of any museum. With language the museum explains or frames what we see. However the problem with language and art is that the artwork will never change, but language does. Some titles and descriptions of artworks have the vocabulary of the colonial era. Those are terms that are not generally accepted and are seen as hurtful, discriminatory and racist agreed on not to use anymore.
This is why museums are changing titles and descriptions of artworks. However, this still appears to be very difficult.
You could say that the museums are in a fight. You have the traditionalists who don’t want to change the words. They argue that by changing titles and descriptions censorship is committed. On the other side you have the people who are trying to bring change. They use the arguments I have used, people now experience words from colonial time which were then considered normal, as painful.

It is about changing words, not about changing history. A good example of this is the word "slave" in titles and paintings. Many museums have already changed this into "enslaved". This makes it clear that the person was forced to become a slave. The word "slave" implies that someone has chosen to be a slave. With "enslaved" you make it clear that someone is forced to be someone's slave.
In addition to removing and changing hurtful terms, there are still a number of steps that Fabian (1983) claims need to be taken. There are still many gallery texts and descriptions that present certain peoples as if they are living in an eternal past. This is what Fabian terms the ethnographic present: the ethnographic present is simply the “practice of giving accounts of other cultures and societies in the present tense. A custom, a ritual, even an entire system of exchange or a world view are thus predicated on a group or tribe, or whatever unit the ethnographer happens to choose.” (Fabian 1983) As these descriptions are written in the present tense, it implies that what is described is still the case. By writing something in the present time you suggest that people are still living in the way they did hundreds of years ago.

It is therefore important that museums recognize that they play a major role in society and must therefore also assume their responsibility. The cultural institute must take a lead in this change.

How does this form of critical thinking affect our group project?
Our group project is about how the colonial way of thinking is still present in our everyday life. By making this clear we take a closer look at how museums are framing their artworks. We take a close look at titles and descriptions. We use the knowledge that I gained while writing this essay to show our critique on the artworks. While writing this essay it became clear where we have to focus on if we look at artworks. We try to answer questions like: What do we see? What don’t we see? What is the museum telling us and what language do they use?

How is decolonizing the museum: the white cube relevant for cultural diversity?
As art students we tend to believe that museums and galleries are a place where the best and most beautiful artworks are shown. But we don’t learn about the white western gaze. I think it’s important that students learn how important language is and how museums use language as a tool for framing artworks.
The artists of the future need to know what the relationship between knowledge and power is, and use this in their artworks. I think as an art student it’s important to stay critical to your own work field.

References

Hall, Stuart. Representation, 2013.
Modest, Wayne, and Robin Lelijveld. Woorden Doen Ertoe: Een Incomplete Gids Voor Woordkeuze Binnen De Culturele Sector. S.n.
Nzume, Anousha. Hallo Witte Mensen. AUP, 2017.
Wekker, Gloria. White Innocence: Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race. Duke University Press, 2016.