Decolonising collections

In the world of museums, galleries and collections conversations have been going on about the past of the artefacts kept by institutions. Oftentime, that past is couched in terms of conquest or subjugation. Sometimes the actual discoverers, who may have been aware of the qualities of, say, a particular plant for a long time before European settlement, have been written out of history or simply not been acknowledged. 

Now, in the 2020s, when we are all questioning our attitudes, the places where knowledge is gathered are doing their own questioning. Here is an article from the Director of Science at Kew Gardens explaining why it is vitally important that these conversations take place. Fascinating and timely. 

Thank you to our reader from South Africa who sent this link in.