From left to right: Dr. David Morton (UBC History), John Michael Koffi (the Africa Awareness Initiative), and Dr. Nuno Porto (MOA)
A team led by David Morton, UBC assistant professor of African history, Nuno Porto, Museum of Anthropology (MOA) curator for Africa and South America, and John Michael Koffi, president of the UBC Africa Awareness Initiative (AAI), has been awarded $95,280 from UBC’s Program for Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) toward a project entitled “Decolonizing the African Collections and Displays at the Museum of Anthropology.” The two-year project will employ 32 undergraduate student researchers and provide specialized training for revising more than 1,000 African object descriptions in MOA’s museum catalogue.
Although the Africa collections at MOA are extensive, the texts accompanying objects are often inaccurate and reflect colonial-era biases. Under the guidance of Dr. Porto and Dr. Morton, students will learn historical and ethnographic research methods, and how to make this academic knowledge accessible to a wider public. Rewriting object descriptions will be an important step toward reconceptualizing the Africa displays as a whole.
“Museums everywhere originated as colonial institutions — and MOA, for all its strengths, is no exception”, says Dr. Morton. “Now we have real resources to begin changing how the museum represents African histories and cultures.”
According to Dr. Porto, “This is an ambitious project designed to enhance the research skills of undergraduates who are engaged in African issues, to bring the museum catalogue descriptions to a new, contemporary light, and to fulfill the immense promise inscribed in the notion of the multiversity and its associated principles of cultural respect, inclusion, and empowerment.”
Koffi, a third-year undergraduate student, believes that the project will help invigorate the African Studies minor since it will draw on the expertise of African Studies scholars across campus and recruit students who have demonstrated an active interest in African subjects. “I’m very much looking forward to seeing my peers contribute to UBC’s future relationship with African cultures, peoples and the diaspora, and I can only hope that this recognition by the university becomes a stepping stone to broader investments in Afrocentric learning at UBC.” The UBC Black Student Union and the Hogan’s Alley Society are also partners on the project.
Several events will be organized as part of the project, including a public symposia which will highlight student research and a series of talks by invited scholars. The event details will be announced in the months to come.
Students interested in applying for a researcher position can find instructions at this site. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, August 14, 2019, at 10:00 p.m. Selected applicants will be notified on Monday, August 19, 2019.
Questions can be directed to Nuno Porto, project lead, at nuno.porto@ubc.ca
