Museums as Agents for Social Change: Collaborative Programmes at the Mutare Museum

Museums as Agents for Social Change explores how museums with inherited colonial legacies are dealing with their new environments, providing an examination of Mutare museums activism in engaging with topical issues affecting its surrounding community. It demonstrates how recent programs have helped to reposition Mutare museum as a decolonial agent of social change and an important community anchor institution.

Format: Hardback
Length: 126 pages
Publication date: 12 April 2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Museums, as Agents for Social Change, is a groundbreaking exploration of museum practice in a decolonized era, transcending the traditional roles of object collection and presentation. This comprehensive text delves into the experiences of Mutare Museum, a regional museum in Eastern Zimbabwe, as it navigates its new environment while grappling with the legacies of colonialism. Through a detailed examination of Mutare Museum's activism, the book sheds light on how museums with inherited colonial legacies are addressing contemporary issues affecting their surrounding communities, including Chipangura and Mataga. It showcases innovative approaches to engagement, such as deploying new forms of outreach to attract diverse audiences while tackling pressing concerns such as economic livelihoods, poverty, displacement, climate change, and education. By highlighting the success of recent programs in repositioning Mutare Museum as a decolonial agent of social change and an integral community anchor institution, the book provides valuable insights into how other museums can transcend the colonial focus on collection, conservation, and public presentation. This text is of paramount interest to academics and students specializing in museum and heritage studies, history, archaeology, and anthropology. Moreover, it appeals to museum professionals worldwide who are eager to learn about decolonizing their institutions and fostering meaningful social change.

Weight: 278g
Dimension: 146 x 227 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367217808