Institution, Immigration, and the Colonial Narrative: How American Museums Can Better Serve South Asian Immigrant Communities
Abstract: Museums are uniquely positioned to enhance cultural heritage experiences and multicultural education for marginalized groups, as they often contain art and artifacts from parts of the world that have been historically disadvantaged by colonialism and imperialism. Despite this, museums frequently contribute to colonial narratives and the marginalization of communities through stereotypical representation, and disregard the voices of communities whose artifacts the institution was built on. Immigrant communities in particular are often overlooked by museums and cultural heritage institutions, in part because research on how these groups relate to museums, and what they need from them, is lacking. For museums to serve immigrant communities effectively through their collections, exhibitions, programming, and outreach, they need a better understanding of the particular needs and practices of immigrant communities. The qualitative study proposed here investigates the needs, experiences, and perspectives of immigrant communities in relation to museums, with a focus on South Asian immigrants to the United States. Through semi-structured interviews and focus groups with members of South Asian immigrant communities, this study will identify disconnects between community needs and museum practice. Such insight will help museums create more inclusive and effective programming for South Asian communities and mitigate the perpetuation of colonial museum practices and representations. |