Taboos of coloniality when collaborating on Google Arts and Culture

Abstract

Conversations around museum decolonisation are critically reflecting upon how UK museums can effectively address colonial histories and their subsequent impacts on collections and display. However, such discourse has not yet been applied to the digital platform Google Arts and Culture (GAC) with regard to transnational collaborative projects between museums and Indigenous peoples living in the Americas. I suggest here that there remains a significant taboo in the UK whereby the voice of the coloniser threatens to suppress that of source communities when curating digital international projects. This condensed examination of my MLitt thesis ponders the taboo of museums confronting their own colonialities, regarding two digital exhibitions within the British Museum’s GAC 2016-19 ‘Google Maya Project.’ Suggestions here highlight both the limitations and decolonial potential of digital projects such as these, to provide freely determined and meaningful benefit to Indigenous stakeholders.