Inclusive Global Histories

At National Museums NI, we are committed to decolonising our museums and collections. We recognise that decolonisation will be an ongoing process, as we learn and adapt in response to consultation. We have much further to go with this work, but we will ensure we act, change, listen, learn and develop.

We are very interested in feedback, and we welcome dialogue, particularly with those for whom the collections have special relevance and significance. If you would like to talk to us please contact our Curatorial department.

What is decolonisation?

The Museums Association has defined decolonisation as follows:

‘Decolonisation is not simply the relocation of a statue or an object; it is a long-term process that seeks to recognise the integral role of empire in museums – from their creation to the present day. Decolonisation requires a reappraisal of our institutions and their history and an effort to address colonial structures and approaches to all areas of museum work.’

The context here

For museums across the island of Ireland, consideration needs to be given to the particular context and sensitivities associated with colonialism in this place. In Northern Ireland in particular, concepts of ‘British’ and ‘Irish’ should be explored and considered thoughtfully, given the cross-fertilisation of culture and cultural fusion that underpins our society today.

Historians and other scholars disagree over the extent to which Ireland was actually a colony at all (as opposed to a sister kingdom and then part of the United Kingdom), and there is also the complex question of Ireland's part in the colonial project - was it exploited or exploitative (or both)? In considering these issues, museums must support exploration and public discourse in a way that moves beyond old historical tropes/binaries, and instead challenges stereotypical views of history.

In looking at issues relating to culture, identity and the legacy of the past within our own communities and experiences, we must be careful not to undermine the core principle of decolonisation, which is to address racism and exclusionary practices. Annex E (Rights, Language and Identity) of A New Decade, New Approach(January 2020) recognises ‘the need to encourage and promote reconciliation, tolerance and meaningful dialogue between those of different national and cultural identities in Northern Ireland with a view to promoting parity of esteem, mutual respect, understanding and cooperation’. We absolutely should interrogate the British Empire and its legacy, and the different roles Ireland has performed within that, but in a hospitable and informative way, respecting different identities and perspectives.

Inclusive Global Histories Commitments — Our Commitments

In December 2020, the Board of Trustees of National Museums NI approved the following commitments:

To embed a decolonisation approach - We will foreground this in relevant corporate plans and policies, including the National Museums NI Ethics Policy. We will seek opportunities to widen understanding of the meaning of decolonisation, within and outside the organisation, through training and advocacy.
To interrogate our collections and sites - We need to understand the ways in which colonialism is rooted in our collections and sites, for example, in the collections we hold, the language we use to document them and the ways in which we interpret them for the public. We will undertake this interrogation through discrete research and development projects.
To nurture and learn from partnerships - We recognise that much of the expertise and experiences required to inform a decolonisation approach lie outside our museums. Partnerships with academia and the wider museum sector will be important, but even more fundamental will be partnerships with source communities and those with lived experience of racism and exclusionary practices.
To be honest and transparent - This work will be a learning journey for us, and we will not always get it right. It is important that we share this journey, in all its successes and failures, with our audiences. This will help open up opportunities to collaborate with, listen to and learn from others.

Priorities and progress

The World Cultures collection numbers some 4,500 items. It is closely linked to the history of the Ulster Museum and primarily covers material from the Arctic, Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand). Most items were acquired in the 19th and early 20th centuries, by members of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, and were later transferred to the ownership of the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery and subsequently to National Museums NI.

Whilst the motivation behind the acquisition of ethnological material can appear strange today, it reflected curiosity about the wider world and a desire to present diverse cultures in Belfast. However, the European bias and power imbalances that characterised this collecting leave a complex and sensitive legacy to address today. Whilst some material was acquired legitimately, the collection does include objects acquired by theft and violence, through means now deemed highly unethical. The implementation of a new approach to the World Cultures collections is a priority for National Museums NI, and some of the projects we are working on are detailed below. We aim to be open and collaborative in our actions, to include multiple perspectives and encourage dialogue.

‘Inclusive Global Histories’ Exhibition

This exhibition is currently on display at the Ulster Museum. The aims of the exhibition are to increase public awareness of the World Cultures collections, to be open about their problematic origins and status within museums, to celebrate rich cultures from across the world, to discuss our approach to decolonisation and to involve audiences in discussions about the future of these collections. The exhibition has been supported by a range of partners from marginalised communities in Northern Ireland and Indigenous communities internationally. The exhibition highlights a number of our live projects and partnerships. To find out more about visiting the exhibition see Inclusive Global Histories at Ulster Museum .

Partnerships with local marginalised communities

National Museums NI is working with local marginalised communities to explore the world cultures collections and discuss challenges such as acquisition, ownership and interpretation. Groups such as the African Caribbean Support Organisation for NI, Belfast Multi-Cultural Association and Active Citizens Engaged have shared their stories with us and are showcased in the Inclusive Global Histories exhibition.

Global Voices, Local Choices Project

National Museums NI, in partnership with the African and Caribbean Support Organisation Northern Ireland (ACSONI) and Northern Ireland Museums Council (NIMC), is working on a new decolonisation project, funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Collections Fund. The partners will be working to engage marginalised communities, availing them a fair opportunity for their community representatives to assert their right to make choices relating to National Museums NI’s World Cultures collections and how they are interpreted.

The project will raise awareness and understanding of these collections, and how a decolonisation approach can be implemented in a fresh and inclusive way through creativity. Bringing diverse cultures and perspectives into Northern Ireland’s local and national museums, it will be a learning experience for all partners and participants.

Digital Benin Project

National Museums NI is participating in the Museum am Rothenbaum’s digital platform project, Digital Benin. With its commitment to assembling all of the dispersed Benin royal arts into a merged online database that includes in-depth oral and historical research, we recognise that Digital Benin will be an asset to museums, the global community, and to Edo stakeholders in Nigeria and its diasporas. The Digital Benin project is being developed in close cooperation with the Benin Dialogue Group, which includes the Royal Court of Benin, the Edo State Government, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria and all European museums with important Benin collections. National Museums NI has three looted spears from Benin in the collection.

Devolving Restitution: African Collections in UK Museums Beyond London

https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/african-restitution
Funded by Open Societies Foundation and the Art Fund

This project commissions scoping, provenance research, and writing that builds understanding and starts to unlock the immense scale, range and diversity of African collections in UK museums outside London. The programme brings together museums and grassroots diasporic, community and activist groups across the UK for six events, each addressing a different theme in African collections’ histories and opening up new dialogues with African claimants. This work aims not only to move forward the traditionally London-centric nature of debates about decolonisation and restitution in UK museums, but also to actively support and amplify the claims of African-based organisations and communities for the return of African heritage.

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

https://aiatsis.gov.au/about/what-we-do/return-cultural-heritage

Following National Museums NI’s participation in the ‘Return of Cultural Heritage’ scoping project 2018-20, contact with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) resumed in early 2021. We have shared images and documentation of the Australian collections with AIATSIS who have selected and helped interpret the collection for display in Inclusive Global Histories exhibition. They also hope to share and discuss these items with communities back in Australia.

Museums, Empire and Northern Irish Identity

Museums, Empire and Northern Irish Identity is a research partnership between the Centre for Public History in Queen’s University Belfast, National Museums NI, the Northern Ireland Museums Council, Irish Museums Association and University of Maynooth. It has three objectives.

Colonial Legacy: To improve and sustain the development of understanding of Northern Ireland’s World Cultures collections as an under-addressed colonial legacy, that raises social justice concerns about relationships within the British Empire. The project is surveying global human history collections across Northern Ireland, and developing recommendations for their future exploration and use, in partnership with the Northern Ireland Museums Council and other museums.
Ethnographic Collections in Contemporary NI Life: To understand whether and how objects in Northern Ireland impact and connect with contemporary identities and politics in the region. Being delivered through community interviews and workshops, the project is asking people living in Northern Ireland whether, and how, they relate to these collections, and about their perspectives on colonialism and the British Empire.
Interdisciplinary Research Group: To bridge academics, museum professionals and activists to develop research in the field of global objects in Irish museums. Initially delivered through a major conference, ‘Ireland, Museums, Empire, Colonialism’ on 8-9 April 2022, through this objective, the project is scoping future research needs and partnerships in this rapidly developing area.

National Museums NI welcomes enquiries about the repatriation or restitution of material in the World Cultures collections.

We are working towards ensuring we have an ethical and sustainable collection for all.

Most of the World Cultures collections were acquired in the 19th and early 20th centuries, by members of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. The European bias and power imbalances that characterised this collecting leave a complex and sensitive legacy to address today. Some of the collections do present significant ethical issues, including the nature of the material acquired and unethical acquisition methods. In light of the decolonisation agenda within museums, the implementation of a new approach to these collections is a priority for National Museums NI.

We recognise and seek to actively engage in contemporary discourse around the ethical treatment of World Cultures collections and the decolonisation and repatriation of collections. To this end, we participate within sectoral research and development initiatives and gather feedback and perspectives from stakeholders and audiences.

Repatriation of ancestral Hawaiian human remains and sacred objects

In April 2022, following ongoing dialogue with Native Hawaiian descendants, researchers and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, National Museums NI hosted an official handover ceremony at Ulster Museum and successfully repatriated ancestral Hawaiian human remains, iwi kūpuna and sacred objects, mea kapu, which were part of the museum’s World Cultures collection. Learn more here.

A decolonisation approach should not just be applied to the collections currently held by museums, but should be used to inform a more inclusive and ethical approach to how we collect for the future. In National Museums NI’s Collections Development Policy 2018-2023 we commit to:

Improve the diversity and representativeness of the collections, through collecting associated with the nine protective categories as identified in Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998).
Ensure the relevance of the collections, through the pursuit of active and informed contemporary collecting.

We recognise that we have more to do to ensure that we engage with and represent those from a range of ethnic backgrounds, and that the collection includes experiences of racism and exclusionary practices within society, as well as the activism that takes a stand against such hatred and discrimination.

Below you can find out more about some of our most recent acquisitions. We will continue to add to this page as we collect new material.

Troy Michie, Riots (June 3rd - June 8th, 1947), (2019)

Acquired January 2020

Troy Michie is an African American artist, born and raised in El Paso, Texas. He is at the forefront of considering topical themes in international artistic practice, including racial identity, sexuality, bodily representation and political discourse. The subject of this piece, the ‘zoot suit’, has an interesting history of political resistance. It came to be considered unpatriotic due to World War II ration regulations prohibiting the production of men’s suits with excessive fabric. In 1943, the Zoot Suit Riots occurred in Los Angeles, spurring a series of racially motivated riots and attacks across the United States.

Joy Gerard, Ormeau Park Gates. Belfast. Black Lives Matter. June 2020

Acquired March 2021

The themes of protest and urban space are central to the practice of Belfast-based artist, Joy Gerard, as well as division within society that erupts along the lines of democratic or social friction. This work relates directly to the Belfast Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Attendees tied their placards to the gates of Ormeau Park, and this then became a site of further protest, with families posting their own placards together in the weeks that followed.

Photos of placards from the Black Lives Matter Protest, Belfast 2020

Acquired May 2021

These placards represent a local, community response to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. Residents of the Ormeau Road area of South Belfast mobilised to express solidarity with those protesting against racial injustice, following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in May 2020.

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Repatriation and Restitution