ABSTRACT
Many institutions in the Netherlands and other colonizer countries are increasingly eager to adopt decoloniality as a method and objective. This paper presents three issues to consider when theorizing the future of the colonial past. First, the tendency to disconnect decolonial work in academia and galleries from the violence of a contemporary global distribution system should be countered in order to adequately respond to conservative backlash and neutralization. Second, a critique of current racist and classist academic/curatorial procedures is required to prevent harmful appropriation and erasure. Finally, connecting to deep time is introduced as a potential strategy to evoke visions beyond colonialism. This contribution is informed by the author’s work within Decolonize the Museum and the University of Colour in the 2010s.
