Decolonizing Knowledge Through Southern Museology: Insights from the Museum Futures Africa Project and a Case Study of Arna Jharna Museum, India

Paper Abstract: Contemporary museology is undergoing a profound transformation as institutions grapple with their colonial / authoritarian legacies and interrogate long-established curatorial practices. The traditional museum paradigm, which emerged during the colonial era, positioned artifacts as passive vessels of knowledge, often reducing complex cultural histories to simplified and exoticized narratives. Amidst these global museal dialogues, a young but ambitious institution emerged—Museum Futures, South Africa. As a people-centered cultural initiative, Museum Futures initially concentrated on Africa but soon extended its reach to museums across the Global South, aiming to explore and experiment with new models of museology. With each iteration, they addressed the question: "Can we speak of a Southern museology?"

Throughout 2023, Museum Futures collaborated with six Global South museums, including Museu Mafalala (Mozambique), Arna Jharna (India), Conflictorium (India), Mutare Museum (Zimbabwe), Majimaji Museum (Tanzania), and Acervo da Laje (Brazil). As a researcher at Arna Jharna in India, I became involved with Museum Futures during this initiative. My proposed presentation will serve as a case study of this transformative project, which draws inspiration from the visionary Brazilian pedagogue Paulo Freire’s concept of ‘education for liberation’, reflecting on how these collaborations helped us reimagine contemporary museum practices. Moving forward, it would be a compelling next step to expand this initiative by inviting more museums from Africa, Asia, and other regions of the Global South into these conversations. The goal would be to further deconstruct dominant museological narratives and collaboratively shape a new, community-driven museology reflexive of futurist orientation.