Beyond Museums in the Aftermath of Colston
Re-imagining Black Pasts, Presents, and FuturesJoin BSWN and partners in Re-imagining Black Pasts, Presents, and Futures in light of our research into decolonisation of cultural spaces.
As we approach the year anniversary of the fall of the Colston statue in Bristol Harbour, we are still left with many lingering questions.
Has anything changed? What needs to be in place both in the community and within cultural institutions to achieve a decolonial cultural space? And, the most important one – what is next? These questions, and more, ground our panel on Beyond Museums in the Aftermath of Colston: Re-imagining Black Pasts, Presents, and Futures, hosted in collaboration with Bristol Old Vic.
Drawing from National Heritage Lottery funded research conducted by Black Southwest Network (BSWN) on the role of decolonisation within South West museum/organisations, this panel brings together scholars, activists, and community members for a conversation around the role museums will play in larger conversations and movements around race and racism, Black Lives Matter, the decolonial and cultural heritage.
Do these types of institutional spaces have the capacity to understand the breadth and depth of Blackness and Black life? Can these spaces be repurposed for decolonial desires? What does that even mean?
We focus on museums because these are the locations that house the stories of the nation – weaving a narrative of who does/does not belong and why. The lack of Black heritage in particular, is troubling at best for the nation as we know it would not be here without these communities and histories. Therefore, we are in a time of re-imagining and invite others to re-image with us.
Guest speakers and panelists include:
- Dr Errol Francis – CEO of Culture&
- Edson Burton – Writer, Historian, Curator and member of Come The Revolution
- Lisa Graves – World Cultures and Archaeology Curator
- Kelly Foster - Historian
- Cleo Lake - Black Artists on the Move
- Tom Morris – Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic
- Sado Jirde – Director of BSWN
Guests speaker for the evening will be Deputy Mayor Asher Craig and key note speaker Dr Errol Francis, CEO of Culture&
The event will be chaired by Rob Mitchell.
We look forward to hearing from you or seeing you at the event.
Best wishes,
The BSWN Team
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