The Transnational Museum: Collecting the World and Seeing the Global

Shahidha Bari, Professor of Fashion Cultures and Histories, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London 

In Britain, national galleries and historic museums inspire both affection and controversy. They are storehouses of the nation's cultural treasures and the legacy of centuries of colonialism and violence. Now, as Britain faces a new crisis of identify, torn between ideas of broadening global citizenship and narrowing national interest, this paper asks what is the role of a country's museums in forging its cultural future? How are British museums confronting ideas of transnationalism and decolonization, and what should a collective cultural landscape look like?