Museum of Black Futures
Museum of Black Futures
Podcast Description
The Museum of Black Futures podcast takes you on a journey through radical imagination, decolonial storytelling, repatriation and the ethics of building a museum for our emancipation. What does it mean to create a cultural institution rooted in Black resilience, and joy? In every episode, host Richard Kofi and his guests tackle the moral, ethical, and practical dilemmas of building The Museum of Black Futures. From the complexities of restitution and collecting to the question of how our museums can truly serve the communities it represents.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast delves into topics such as the ethics of museum building, restitution practices, and community engagement focusing on Black resilience and joy. Episodes feature discussions on the colonial history of archiving, the complexities of repatriation, and case studies on contemporary museums. For instance, one episode discusses how cultural institutions can serve as vehicles for liberation and empowerment.
The Museum of Black Futures podcast takes you on a journey through radical imagination, decolonial storytelling, repatriation and the ethics of building a museum for our emancipation. What does it mean to create a cultural institution rooted in Black resilience, and joy? In every episode, host Richard Kofi and his guests tackle the moral, ethical, and practical dilemmas of building The Museum of Black Futures. From the complexities of restitution and collecting to the question of how our museums can truly serve the communities it represents.
This summer, Junadry and I visited Gorée Island, in Senegal. As you probably know, this island carries a complex history of slavery, explained in what is known as the Maison des Esclaves.
Inside that house stands a Door of No Return, just like in the forts of Elmina and Cape Coast (Ghana), Ouidah (Benin), and Badagry (Nigeria). It’s the passage through which enslaved ancestors were forced to walk on their way to the ships. That doorway marked the next step in a life of enslavement. It also symbolizes entry into a colonial world order whose afterlives still shape our daily realities.
But… Can the power of that symbol also be reversed? Or even undermined?
It might sound naïve, in times like these, to imagine new possibilities, but perhaps it’s necessary. That’s why our first Museum of Black Futures at Theater aan de Rijn, is all about turning the Doors of No Return inside out in order to imagine new futures for ourselves. We ask questions, make space, and invite other ways of remembering, living, and dreaming, in a program titled Returning to the Sacred Mother.
That saying, that image of Returning to the Sacred Mother was inspired by the language used by the method of Rematriation. Rematriation differs from the more widely known concept of repatriation or even reparations. Where those concepts focus on the legal return of colonial objects or a financial transaction, rematriation emphasizes the restoration of relationships, knowledge systems, and ritual care practices. It creates a broader context for return, raising questions such as: who is truly responsible for our heritage, where does it feel at home, and what does it mean to care for an artefact?
In this conversation you’ll hear…
Munganyende
Emmanuel Akwasi Adu-Ampong
Music by Julian Tjon-Sack-Kie
And Ranie Ribeiro
Production by La Fam Productions
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