I started writing about museums at a time when it seemed to me that a new way of thinking was on the horizon. Discussions about the rights of the cultures on display - for their representatives to have a voice - began to get louder.
And in the following decade, repatriation laws changed, claimants grew in confidence and were increasingly being listened to. The whole museum climate seemed a healthier one in which to reside. It's as if museums grew a conscience.
It is impossible for the national museums to be apolitical, considering their colonial roots and the ways that many of the collections came into the institution.
As this issue of Museums Journal goes to press five Kenyan Mau Mau War veterans were to arrive at London's High Court to lodge a reparations claim against the UK for wrongdoings by the British army.
The UK government has said the claim is invalid because of the time lapsed since the alleged detention and torture during the 1950s and 1960s. The veterans say their personal lives have been affected since.
The reparation action is being brought following the uncovering of historical information from Harvard and Oxford University. The veterans' barrister told me that the now elderly Kenyans are seeking an apology, and social welfare funds in "recognition for the wrong done".
Now, it wouldn't be wrong for a museum, perhaps with East African collections and connections, to present a responsible and balanced exhibition to highlight this issue. It is absolutely right that museums should take on this remit to address for the benefit of the public such claims of injustice. This would help to give people a more complete picture and perhaps allow their involvement in some way.
What I would like to see are more exhibitions of conscience and museums that fight injustices. Museums that are brave enough to take a stance. Yes, present the "facts" as we know them, but say this is what we believe, and this is what we would like to see done to rectify the situation. That's the type of museum I would like to see.
And in the following decade, repatriation laws changed, claimants grew in confidence and were increasingly being listened to. The whole museum climate seemed a healthier one in which to reside. It's as if museums grew a conscience.
It is impossible for the national museums to be apolitical, considering their colonial roots and the ways that many of the collections came into the institution.
As this issue of Museums Journal goes to press five Kenyan Mau Mau War veterans were to arrive at London's High Court to lodge a reparations claim against the UK for wrongdoings by the British army.
The UK government has said the claim is invalid because of the time lapsed since the alleged detention and torture during the 1950s and 1960s. The veterans say their personal lives have been affected since.
The reparation action is being brought following the uncovering of historical information from Harvard and Oxford University. The veterans' barrister told me that the now elderly Kenyans are seeking an apology, and social welfare funds in "recognition for the wrong done".
Now, it wouldn't be wrong for a museum, perhaps with East African collections and connections, to present a responsible and balanced exhibition to highlight this issue. It is absolutely right that museums should take on this remit to address for the benefit of the public such claims of injustice. This would help to give people a more complete picture and perhaps allow their involvement in some way.
What I would like to see are more exhibitions of conscience and museums that fight injustices. Museums that are brave enough to take a stance. Yes, present the "facts" as we know them, but say this is what we believe, and this is what we would like to see done to rectify the situation. That's the type of museum I would like to see.
