Shape-shifting: Contemporary Art and the Revisioning of the Amsterdam Colonial Past

The past decade has seen the Dutch museum sector navigate what could be called a decolonial turn. From interventions in racist collection presentations to groundbreaking exhibitions and grassroots collaborations, Dutch museum practices have committed themselves to redressing their erasure and misrepresentation of the (de)colonized world. They follow in the footsteps of the artists that have worked with/within/against these same institutions for decades prior, exposing the absence of the non-colonial subject and insisting on their presence. This chapter explores the meeting of these artists and museums, presenting an inventory of contemporary collaborations exploring the possibilities of revisioning the colonial past.