Global Cultural Assembly: Decolonial (Im)Possibilities at the Humboldt Forum (2022-2024)

Abstract

This paper presents an interdisciplinary critical ethnography situated in anthropology and museum studies concerning the relationship between coloniality and museums. The investigation examines the participation of the Global Cultural Assembly in the intended process of decolonization of the Ethnological Museum in Berlin and the Humboldt Forum. The findings suggest that decolonial practices in traditional museums cannot be understood within binary dichotomies. Furthermore, the study argues that the attempt to decolonize museums is often found in the poetics and encounters of different grammars that, when placed at a crossroads, face challenges such as the reproduction of coloniality.