Museums are places that teach about the past, aren’t they? But who decides, which stories are worth telling and which pieces worth exhibiting? The time of the British Empire is over on the paper, but the UK as a Western country still holds political and/or economic power over the people from former colonies. In most cases, and this virtual exhibition is no exception, museums about the British Empire are curated by people from the global West. They are the ones who decide which stories are being told and which pieces are being shown (cf. Duthie 2011: 22). Consequentially, many museums still present a colonial perspective, but this often goes unnoticed because museums are assumed to present an objective account of history (cf. Whittington 2022: 252). The British Museum for example, by claiming to be a ‘universal museum’, “remains an imperial institution in a post-imperial world” (Duthie 2011: 23). Having the descendants of the former oppressors tell stories about colonialis...
Below you will find the links to access the downloadable PDFs: Teacher's Guide - Click here Students' Handout - Click here