Le musée guérisseur. Les musées canadiens face à leur passé colonial

From 2008 to 2015, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) sought to shed light on the residential school system to which 150,000 children were sent over the course of a century, with the aim of forcibly Christianizing and “Westernizing” them. The TRC's final report,...

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Main Author: Jean-Philippe Uzel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Alma Diamond, University of Bologna 2025-03-01
Series:Museum, Materials and Discussions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://mmdjournal.unibo.it/article/view/21594
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author Jean-Philippe Uzel
author_facet Jean-Philippe Uzel
author_sort Jean-Philippe Uzel
collection DOAJ
description From 2008 to 2015, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) sought to shed light on the residential school system to which 150,000 children were sent over the course of a century, with the aim of forcibly Christianizing and “Westernizing” them. The TRC's final report, which concludes that a veritable “cultural genocide” took place, proposes 94 calls to action to right the wrongs of the past. Many of these are addressed to the Canadian art world and museums and have the particularity of placing the museum in the role of healer. This healing, a key element in the reconciliation process, is primarily concerned with the “survivors” of the residential schools, i.e. the indigenous students who suffered physical, sexual and psychological abuse, the after-effects of which are still felt today. In recent years, however, the theme of reconciliation has gradually given way to that of decolonization. This paradigm shift affects all Canadian institutions, but particularly museums, whose colonial history is at the very heart of their collections. But what of the curatorial function of museums in this paradigm shift? The aim of this article is to show that, in the age of decolonization, the healing museum is subject to a divided understanding that lies at the heart of the recent crisis in Canadian museums.
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spelling doaj-art-0ed1c9bdcf5449b58cf0affead337a922025-08-20T03:47:10ZengAlma Diamond, University of BolognaMuseum, Materials and Discussions3034-96992025-03-012113715810.6092/issn.3034-9699/2159419972Le musée guérisseur. Les musées canadiens face à leur passé colonialJean-Philippe Uzel0Université du Québec à MontréalFrom 2008 to 2015, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) sought to shed light on the residential school system to which 150,000 children were sent over the course of a century, with the aim of forcibly Christianizing and “Westernizing” them. The TRC's final report, which concludes that a veritable “cultural genocide” took place, proposes 94 calls to action to right the wrongs of the past. Many of these are addressed to the Canadian art world and museums and have the particularity of placing the museum in the role of healer. This healing, a key element in the reconciliation process, is primarily concerned with the “survivors” of the residential schools, i.e. the indigenous students who suffered physical, sexual and psychological abuse, the after-effects of which are still felt today. In recent years, however, the theme of reconciliation has gradually given way to that of decolonization. This paradigm shift affects all Canadian institutions, but particularly museums, whose colonial history is at the very heart of their collections. But what of the curatorial function of museums in this paradigm shift? The aim of this article is to show that, in the age of decolonization, the healing museum is subject to a divided understanding that lies at the heart of the recent crisis in Canadian museums.https://mmdjournal.unibo.it/article/view/21594canadian museumshealing museumreconciliationdecolonization
spellingShingle Jean-Philippe Uzel
Le musée guérisseur. Les musées canadiens face à leur passé colonial
Museum, Materials and Discussions
canadian museums
healing museum
reconciliation
decolonization
title Le musée guérisseur. Les musées canadiens face à leur passé colonial
title_full Le musée guérisseur. Les musées canadiens face à leur passé colonial
title_fullStr Le musée guérisseur. Les musées canadiens face à leur passé colonial
title_full_unstemmed Le musée guérisseur. Les musées canadiens face à leur passé colonial
title_short Le musée guérisseur. Les musées canadiens face à leur passé colonial
title_sort le musee guerisseur les musees canadiens face a leur passe colonial
topic canadian museums
healing museum
reconciliation
decolonization
url https://mmdjournal.unibo.it/article/view/21594
work_keys_str_mv AT jeanphilippeuzel lemuseeguerisseurlesmuseescanadiensfacealeurpassecolonial