Relics Of The Past

Are museums really modern?

By: Lidia Hadera

As I entered the building, I couldn’t help but wonder, are museums really modern? 

To some, this question is simple: yes, museums are modern. But, I can’t help but wonder if they are saying this because of the aesthetics of the space rather than the art. Even though curators carefully select pieces to fulfill their vision for a specific exhibit, they intentionally or unintentionally include their own biases in the display. As a result, “modern” starts to become synonymous with “Western” and “imperialistic” rather than innovative and progressive. As a result, curators continue to saturate us with the same narratives about the West versus non-Western cultures and religions. A prime example of this is how “Africa” is depicted and illustrated as a country rather than a continent made up of thousands of different cultures and religions. Instead of showing this, curators reduce “Africa” to “African” masks and see them as “backwards” so that they don’t have to reevaluate their definition of modern art nor challenge themselves or viewers to think differently. By failing to do so, curators continue to share the same narratives of these regions that have been told for centuries and use museums to do it. As a result, museums don’t challenge our own biases or teach us to be more progressive, but instead are used as confirmation biases and serve as relics of the past in our thinking.