TAD Postgraduate Research Forum hosted its second external speaker Dr Bernadettle Lynch, an academic and museum professional and Honorary Research Associate at University College London (UCL). Her presentation ‘Pity porn or activism for social justice? A critical look at museums and migration’ addressed issues to do with Museums in the West and approaches taken to tackle the ‘migrant crisis’ arguing that more interrogation of museums is needed to question to what extent museums are supporting migrants and the prejudice, social injustice and dislocation felt. Her presentation was supported by examples of museum practice which she used to engage with the audience and to ask for feedback. Her ongoing research considers themes related to power, decolonisation, and organisation change in the museum amongst other topics. The issues raised were particularly relevant to TAD and the agenda of the group which engages with concepts such as transculturation, hybridity and globalisation. Her presentation provoked a variety of responses from the audience. One TAD member Massimiliano Papini commented that her presentation had highlighted questions on the ways in which colonial countries have looked at the colonised in the past and how this balance has changed over time and continues to transform the discourse in a political way. He also felt it emphasised the urgent need to find other solutions to a problem which persists. Another comment came from Kahina Lelouvier who observed that although it appears there are efforts being made to be inclusive, there is still a coloniality which unintentionally reproduces power structures which was referred to in the presentation by Bernadette Lynch as “soft bigotry”.
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