Unfolding decoloniality: Interpreting decoloniality through a Bourdieuian perspective while tracing the relationship between art and ethnographic museums

Social demand for more diverse, inclusive and just cultural institutions is constantly increasing calling museums to intensify their decolonial practices and challenge their colonial legacy. Despite the many decolonial actions museums are already implementing, the meaning of decoloniality and what entails in a museum context is still to be defined. Through 14 in-depth interviews, this qualitative study set out to explore the way the concept of decoloniality is interpreted by stakeholders of art and ethnographic museums in the Netherlands as well as how it influences the relationship between the two. This research approached decoloniality through the prism of the coloniality/modernity research group while it substantiated the value of Bourdieu’s field theory as an analytical tool in decolonial scholarly debates. The study showed that decoloniality is perceived as a novelty and as an external issue for the art field while at the same time, ethnographic museums perceive it as an internal necessity and a logical continuation of their practice. Moreover, the position of museum stakeholders in their field was proved to be determinantal in the way decoloniality was perceived. Established museum stakeholders had a broader understanding of the term and a more conventional approach when implementing it while less established stakeholders were perceiving it only through the practice of their corresponded field and they were demanding more radical approach. Lastly, decoloniality proved to provide a new stream in the existing collaboration between art and ethnographic museums. The study indicated that museum stakeholders perceives the use of their discourse in a different environment rather cautiously but they are still positive to collaborate between them to the extent their autonomy is not harmed.