Decolonisation is becoming a critical issue in Dutch and European museums. However, visitors, researchers and stakeholders have mixed reactions to the implementation and the scope of decolonial practices in museums. In addition, people and initiatives in Europe and in/from former colonies and source communities approach decolonisation with different mindsets and levels of enthusiasm. The discussion of decolonisation in Japan, an Asian country with experience of colonising other Asian countries, is fraught with particular difficulties. In terms of decoloniality, Japan is ambivalent. This talk will consider a wide variety of decolonial practices in museums and their meanings by examining them from different places and perspectives.

About the speaker

Mariko Murata (PhD) is a Professor in the Department of Sociology, Kansai University, Japan. She specializes in media and cultural studies, and museum studies. She was a fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) from Oct. 2022 to Sept. 2023. An expanded edition of her book Museums as Ideology: Media Studies on Objects and Spaces (Jimbun Shoin, 2014) has recently been published with an additional chapter on decolonisation.

More information: Leiden lecture series in Japanese Studies