A Commitment to Change, Part II
Last month, we stood in solidarity with Black Lives Matter to express our commitment to institutional change. In a short blog post, we outlined some of the practical steps we are taking to honour that commitment. The principles of dialogue, openness and frankness are central to our approach, and so we were pleased to receive an open letter from the…
Exploring the legacies of empire and enslavement
“It is inconceivable that a British institution as old as our University would not have been touched by colonial practices of enslavement and enforced labour. […] The legacies of enslavement form a part of who we are today, and inform what we wish to achieve. We can never rewrite history, or do away with our heritage, but we can try…
Knowing What Is Important: Rethinking collections with Maasai cultural leaders
In January 2020 a group of Maasai activists and cultural spiritual leaders from Kenya and Tanzania were hosted in Cambridge by the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) during a two-week visit to museums in Oxford and London. The encounter between Maasai men and women and their ancestral artefacts was emotional for visitors and museum staff alike, but from pain…
