Decolonisation Confidence and Skills programme

The Decolonisation Collective was a group of museum professionals embarking on a journey to learn about decolonisation and its importance to all areas of museum practice.

The programme introduced participants to some of the histories and theories that inform this and helped them tackle some common concerns and myths that have built up around it. Importantly, it created a space for thinking, learning and reflection to support members as they developed their understanding and built an approach that sharpened the lens through which they look at all their work.

As part of the collective it is hoped that participants developed the confidence to become agents of change and connect decolonial thinking and practice to contemporary inequalities and to the potential of the museum to shape our understanding.

As part of the group, members were among the first to access the Museum Essentials module Introducing Decolonisation in Museums. In addition, they were invited to participate in a series of workshops, talks and events, which highlighted different aspects of decolonisation work and encouraged reflection on a range of museum practices

These five events, spread out from September 2022 to June 2023, were a chance to deepen understanding of the issues and develop thinking on the ideas that participants were introduced to in the Museum Essentials module. These events were online, with the final event having an option of in-person attendance as well.

Importantly, participants had a forum to share their thoughts with others who were also newly embarking on this work. And as the first cohort of learners taking the module, they were uniquely placed to feed back their experiences and to help us shape the direction of the support we provide in this field.

The programme was for everyone who works in and with museums in the UK. It was aimed primarily at people who were coming to this area of thought and practice for the first time, but also contained content for those who have had some exposure to the ideas but wanted to learn more.

The Decolonisation Leaders’ Network was a cohort of museum professionals recruited to help influence policy, process and practice in the sector so that decolonisation is not only embedded into the everyday work of museums, but harnessed explicitly into conversations about contemporary inequalities, particularly around anti-racism.

The network aimed to influence a significant culture shift in the sector – in the past, commitments to this work have too often been sporadic, piecemeal and overly dependent on extraneous funding streams or sudden shifts in the status quo. To break this cycle, we wanted to ask why, and created a cohort of people who could help ensure decolonisation stays on the map as a central pillar of all museum work.

We hope that this provided an opportunity for like-minded leaders to come together to share and innovate ideas and practice that could further ignite the potential for museums to be engines of progressive social change.

The network met three times over the year of the commitment in various in-person locations as well as being accessible online.

The three sessions asked people to consider some of the challenging underlying questions of decolonial work, and faced some of the more uncomfortable, psychological barriers that inhibit progress.

The sessions were policy and action-led facilitated workshops. It is hoped that through this frank exploration the network was able to develop practical strategies for change that they could use to advocate across the sector.

In addition, members of the network were invited to attend events/talks/workshops comprising the Decolonisation Collective programme, so they could be part of a wider conversation between those with experience of tackling decolonisation and those who were just starting to think about it.

The Decolonisation Leaders’ Network was also asked to suggest and plan pathways and strategies for continuing this work into the future.

A ‘leader’ in this context may be anyone who is leading on this work in their museum and/or is able to effect real change, both within their institution and in the sector. Participants needed:

• A good understanding/experience of at least one aspect of decolonisation theory/practice in museums
• An awareness of how and why the sector needs to be more equal, diverse, and inclusive
• An ability to distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ practice and the courage to speak ‘truth to power’ on these issues
• To be ready to challenge assumptions
• A commitment to sharing ideas and knowledge
• To have the full support of their organisation to explore change and grassroots innovation in this field
• A commitment to embedding and moving this work forward, both within and beyond the lifetime of the network