Decolonizing Spaces of Knowledge ft. Emil Eleftheriotis-Pratt

Joined by half-Scottish half-Greek spatial historian Emil Eleftheriotis-Pratt, this excruciatingly long episode tackles the question: How can decolonization be more than a buzzword that Claire embarrassingly wears on an overpriced t-shirt?

We discuss Boris Johnson's not very hot takes on the Parthenon belonging in the British Museum, The Past Is Now exhibition (2017) in Birmingham, Curators of Discomfort in Glasgow, St Andrews' recent Re:Collecting Empire exhibition made to "tackle institutional legacies," and how natural history isn't really natural, but instead requires distinct cultural context as seen by the presentation of the quassia amara in London. In conclusion, mouse deer.

Real intellectual chat starts at around minute 20.

SIGN THE STOP MEARS PETITION: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZdSCmljglklmBJAc6qb75lnSLuFEgoGwCFs8_OxiErfUtgw/viewform?fbclid=IwAR1IODf13hVqp8ba8vCsue85VdlcHFxfGPEpYloTUUesCpOkUCH-lxUYStY

Esperanto Wor(l)ds: Scotland, Postcards, and the Creation of an International Language zooms into the lives of several Scottish Esperanto speakers in the early twentieth century, particularly into the lives of John Beveridge and his family, and will be on display at the Wardlaw Museum April 13 - May 29 2023. An exhibition curated by Bernhard Struck, Guilherme Fians, and Claire Taylor and sponsored by the University of St Andrews, the Laidlaw Foundation, and the Leverhulme Trust.

Works Cited and Further Reading:

Tracy Ireland and John Schofield, 'The Ethics of Cultural Heritage', in Tracy Ireland and John Schofield (eds.), The Ethics of Cultural Heritage (Springer, 2016).

Subhadra Das and Miranda Lowe, 'Nature Read in Black and White: Decolonial Approaches to interpreting Natural History', Journal of Natural Science Collections 6 (2018): 4-14. https://www.natsca.org/article/2509

Hodan Warsame, 'Mechanisms and Tropes of Colonial Narratives', in Wayne Modest and Robin Lelljveld (eds.), Words Matter (Netherlands: National Museum of World Cultures, 2018), pp. 78-85. https://issuu.com/tropenmuseum/docs/wordsmatter_english

Knight, Sam, 'Britain's Idyllic Country Houses Reveal a Darker History', New Yorker 16 August 2021.

http://hunterian.academicblogs.co.uk/curating-discomfort/

Dr Catherine Eagleton, University of St Andrews, https://museumblog.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2022/08/01/why-are-we-re-collecting-empire.

Museums & Galleries Scotland, ‘Museum Anti-Racist Practice’, https://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/advice/empire-slaveryscotlands-museums-resources/museum-anti-racist-practice/

Museums of the University of St Andrews, Museums Blog, Posts about Re:Collecting Empire https://museumblog.wp.standrews.ac.uk/category/re-collecting-empire/

'Golf balls are a product of colonial exploitation!', https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11148913/Golf-murky-history-linked-colonial-exploitation-academics-say.html