Contribution short abstract:

The movement for museological decolonization has compelled many museums in Europe to reassess their colonial legacies. Based on the case of the Ethnological and World Cultures Museum of Barcelona, this paper analyzes the paradoxes that museums encounter when addressing a crisis of legitimacy.

Contribution long abstract:

Faced with the historical revisionism movements that have been sweeping the international landscape, European ethnology museums are compelled to revisit their colonial past and question the (neo)colonial epistemologies of categorization and exhibition of their collections. In Barcelona, the Ethnological and World Cultures Museum (MUEC), inaugurated as the Ethnological and Colonial Museum in 1949, constitutes an eloquent case study to ponder the frictions that arise in the pursuit of an increasingly contested legitimacy. Just five years ago, the museum began collaborating with research initiatives and outreach activities. These efforts were aimed at responding to the demands for review and resignification, such as the study of particularly problematic collections or the removal of human remains from its permanent exhibition. However, these strategies run the risk of being applied purely for aesthetic purposes.

Based on the ongoing ethnographic study's results, this communication aims to address the paradoxes currently faced by this museum considering challenges and reparations demands from various actors - decolonial movements, academics, politicians, and cooperation agencies. Taking this museum as an example, this paper aims to contribute to the panel discussion by asking the following questions: How can museum decolonization initiatives be framed in institutions that are stuck between the obstinacy of promoting and preserving a colonial legacy and the increasing pressure to explore their past? Is it possible to collaborate from academia and social movements in museum reparation initiatives without actively participating in the whitewashing?