The (Impossible) Decolonization of the Western Museum

NYUAD Institute

For decades now, the “universal museum,” an institution invented in Western Europe, has been challenged, and its decolonization has become a subject of debate within the institution itself. Yet, Françoise Vergès argues that the decolonization of the Western museum is impossible if we adopt Frantz Fanon’s remark that "Decolonization is a program of absolute disorder” (1961). In this conversation, Vergès retraces the connection between collecting and colonialism, explores the capacity of neoliberalism to commodify critiques, and presents the project of a “museum without objects” and different decolonial practices of the arts. Speakers Françoise Vergès, Political Scientist, Historian and Curator; Author of "A Feminist Theory of Violence: A Decolonial Perspective" (Pluto Press, 2022) In conversation with Katia Arfara, Curator; Assistant Professor of Theater, Performance Studies, NYUAD