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Contribution short abstract:

The aim of this ethnographic research is to analyse the Museum of Ethnology and World Cultures of Barcelona, its critical exhibitions and its intercultural work with Latin American migrant audiences. This work reflects on the role of this institution in the creation of more just social imaginaries.

Contribution long abstract:

Ethnographic and World Culture museums are developing practices that address colonial legacies still rooted in contemporary societies. Moreover, these museums play a central role in connecting with the cultural diversity that characterises the current demography of some of the former European metropolises. The aim of this paper is to critically analyse the proposals that the Museum of Ethnology and World Cultures of Barcelona has developed to respond to postcolonial critique, both through its exhibitions and its intercultural work with migrant audiences. Critical exhibitions on the colonial past, academic seminars for reflection and reassessment of the institution, and an artistic creation workshop focused on Latin American migrant populations are the main interest of this ethnographic research. While the institutional projects critically examine the city's colonial past and reflect on the social function of the museum, the migrant narratives question the ownership of the collections and make visible the underrepresentation of groups from former colonies. The MUEC thus becomes a site where colonial hierarchies are materialised and agglomerated, extractive economies are questioned, and the violence perpetrated by museums in general and ethnological museums in particular is denounced. The study reminds us of the position of these institutions as central spaces for the re-elaboration and re-signification of our post-colonial present, as well as their responsibility in the necessary configuration of other, more egalitarian and just futures.