Transformation of European Ethnographic Museums in the Context of Theoretical Discussions and Practices of Postcolonialism

Abstract

The article aims to substantiate the potential of postcolonialism's theoretical approaches in rethinking an ethnographic museum's mission in a globalized, multicultural society. The methodological basis of the study based on the tools of contemporary postcolonial and memory studies, museology and anthropology. Scientific novelty. The importance of theoretical approaches to postcolonialism in rethinking the mission of an ethnographic museum in a globalized, multicultural society is substantiated. In the example of the Museum of Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean in Marseille, innovative curatorial approaches are identified to decolonize the ethnographic collection and integrate the heritage of different peoples of the former colonial empire. Conclusions. The article analyses the emergence and functioning of ethnographic museums in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century as the embodiment of imperial projects. The evolution of ethnographic museums is closely connected with the development of anthropology as a scientific discipline. Ethnographic objects were seen as evidence of humanity's civilizational evolution and established differences between Europeans and "others." The challenges and peculiarities of the new paradigm of ethnographic museology in the modern world are characterized. The article presents curatorial approaches in the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean in Marseille as an example of transforming an ethnographic museum into a museum of society.