Join artists, researchers, and art professionals for a symposium that uses the exhibition Rayyane Tabet / Alien Property as a starting point to challenge the concept of the universal museum—a place to see the whole world under one roof—and its relationship to material and digital cultural heritage.
Session 1: Front End / Back End: Power, Narratives, and Naming
This panel explores how curatorial, research, and archival practices relate to power and agency in museums and archives. The aim of the conversation is to think critically about the seeming divide between the front end (onsite or online display, access, and narrative construction) and the more invisible systems of the back end (collecting and institutional policies, classifications, and metadata). The panel raises the following questions: How can engaged practices challenge and repair historical power structures and restore agency? What archival and curatorial strategies can center care and communities to bridge practices on the front and back ends?
Speakers
Wayne Modest, Director of Content, National Museum of World Cultures, Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam
Safiya U. Noble, Associate Professor, Department of Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
Temi Odumosu, Senior Lecturer, Cultural Studies, Malmö University
Moderated by Kristine Khouri, independent researcher
© 2021 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
