5 . Metabolic Museum-University , Museum of History of Ukraine , Kyiv , 2015 . Photo by Clémentine Deliss
What becomes clear as we proceed is the potential overlap between counter-conduct and the decolonial . Both reflect pressure exercised on the body . Both are time-bound , and contingent on place and history . Both ignite emancipatory exercises in unpredictable methodological arenas . From the literary , archival approach of “ critical fabulation ” ( Sadiya Hartman , Christina Sharpe ’ s Wake Work ), to the “ sonic support ” of artist Abbas Zahedi , and “ quietism ” of “ Shy Radical ” Hamja Ahsan , these positions demand a corporeal , ergonomic adjustment from the museum , a concern for the public ’ s ease , and the time that can be spent sitting and studying in the museum . « A body must be at stake for an exhibition to become legitimate » argued artist Abbas Zahedi recently .
Remediation corresponds to this decolonial procedure : it proposes a reconfiguration of collections and practices of display that expose , transfer , and propagate meanings and agency , while slowly addressing the violence inherent in the museum as a structure of holding . In his manifesto for Aspergistan , titled “ Shy Radicals .
The antisystemic politics of the militant introvert ”, Hamja Ahsan describes “ culture ” in a set of articles of which the following two ring particularly true : « The state shall guarantee twenty-four-hour access to all public libraries , museums , laboratories , book shops , tea and coffee houses , archives and cathedrals within its sovereign territory … The state guarantees twenty-four hour access to all objects of artistic , historical and cultural value .» ( p . 24 , Chapter 5 , Bookworks , 2019 ).
The question is , in what way can we introduce a certain heresy or counter-conduct into the process of knowledge production . Because if we just follow academically sanctioned forms of analysis , we are employing taxonomies that stem from colonialism , and with them , clear traces of racism , capitalism , and extractionism . When I talk about the decolonial , it is about chiselling away at these disciplinary borderlines , hence the position proposed by academic iconoclasm . This is where the potential can be found in icono-clashing the procedures of the museum with that of the university – in particular , the architectonics of the building – how overview
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