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Paper short abstract:

This paper introduces how the Egypt's Dispersed Heritage project used comics as a counter archive to the absences of Egyptians in the archaeological record and current debates. I argue that museums need to first look inward and resolve their colonial organisational models then attempt decolonisation

Paper long abstract:

Museums and archaeological practices are increasingly acknowledging the conscious absence of local indigenous contribution to knowledge production in African and other previously colonised context. Yet, to what extent are these acknowledgements replicating the same colonial model they aim to revoke? How is focusing solely on past bias obscuring persistent present absences in archaeological and museum documentation? And for who is all of this truly for?

Using UCL’s AHRC’s Egypt’s Dispersed Heritage project as a case study, I will introduce how we used comics to produce a counter archive to the absences of Egyptians in not only the archaeological record but also current debates. While the comics attempted to offer meaningful people centred responses to past and present colonial archaeological practices, the extent to which such responses could be acted upon by museums and academic institutions remain doubtful. This raises the question of how meaningful or ethical are current decolonisation models. I argue that museums need to initially look inward and dissolve its current colonial organisational structure models. Unless this is achieved, any attempt to repair or even repatriate will remain a self-serving conscious clearance exercise rather than a true commitment to social justice.