The Canadian Museums Association says its annual conference next month will focus on "truth telling" that looks critically at the colonial legacies of cultural institutions.
"Since their creation, museums have been tied to the colonial project and its impulse to showcase the spoils of violence and subjugation," says a letter signed by the association's board.
"Even as they served to extol the powerful of the day, museums were created to cement and disseminate colonial attitudes and values rooted in the suffering and exploitation of nations, communities and people. That was then, but so too, it is now."
The virtual conference, which runs April 26 and April 27, will include staff from museums, art galleries, artist-run centres, cultural centres, zoos and historic sites, along with community representatives and academics.
While many museums are making changes, it is often like applying "coats of paint on the broken foundations of a colonial edifice" that do not fundamentally change the status quo, the letter said.
"This visits more violence and suffering on historically marginalized people and communities, and specifically does so on the many museum professionals from diverse, historically marginalized and systemically excluded communities who struggle daily to bring about change in an environment that continues to be defined by white supremacy."
"Foundations built on blood, suffering and injustice cannot support places of peace, healing and belonging. Those foundations must be dismantled, and they must be dismantled now to build a better tomorrow for all."
Source: Canadian Museums Association
