Culturepot at Coventry Market, 2024, taken by me
The 20/20 residency has been hard, sad, lovely and beautiful! Below are some reflections on it.
Before the 20/20 project, I thought museum collections were organised very neatly in a way that would make sense of life and history. Turns out they’re not. On the whole, they seem to be just as confusing as life is!
The staff I’ve worked with at the Herbert are lovely, and have been actively engaged in my never-ending questions, ranging from ‘what does decolonising mean for you?’ to ‘what’s your star sign?’. I would defo work with a museum again if they were as open as the staff I’ve worked with at the Herbert.
Forever, taken from ‘Wyken Slough to the Rose & Crown, Bell Green, Coventry’ by shawry1970 on YouTube
I think the residency decolonised my own practice. I’ve been less extractive, mainly in regards to myself: I’ve been rushing less and resting more. As the residency is with a museum, I think I assumed that I should be doing academic research for this project. However, I’ve taken academic knowledge off the pedestal, and have been listening to the knowledge that my intuition brings more. I’ve resisted the urge to be linear and to categorise things; instead I’ve let the research guide me and unfold in whatever direction(s) it chooses to. I’m getting better at opening myself up and being less defensive. I’ve worked with generous family members, mentors, musicians and artists. (Collaboration does not come easily to me – I’m quite guarded so this is pretty big!) I’m learning not to over rationalise everything, or be super precious with my work and put pressure on myself; my work and my existence will never be the end; life will keep on going.
Text taken from 'Educational Needs of Asian Children in the Context of Multiracial Education in Wolverhampton: A Survey of Parents Views and Attitudes, 1977–1978' by Naranjan Singh Noor and S. S. Khalsa. Published by the Indian Workers' Association (GB). Part of the Virk Collection at The Herbet.
I think the residency has helped the Herbert decolonise in terms of how they categorise things. They currently have an exhibition on called Collecting Coventry. I noticed that objects from South Asia and Jamaica are lumped together in their own separate display. All of the other Western objects in the exhibition are organised by what they were used for. I suggested that a less colonial way of displaying the objects from South Asia and Jamaica would be to pay proper attention to what the objects were and their purpose so they could be integrated into the rest of the displays instead of being all sectioned off. They took this on board and have integrated them now!
Decolonisation, meme found on emotional _support_lesbian instagram account
I hope my work for this residency will continue to raise questions of how museums categorise, and how their categories can often centre a white British viewpoint and box in all other non-white identities. I think it will also raise questions as to what is typically deemed important in museum collections. I’m centring oral histories, which are usually used in supplementary ways to give context to displays. The oral histories are ephemeral manifestations of lived experience, not academic knowledge or historical records. They’re often dismissed as things in their own right. But I think they’re one of the most important things in the Herbert. Through them, people have so generously given their life stories to the museum and the public! I think centring the oral histories, manifestations of lived experience, undefinable and often dismissed is decolonial in that it subverts the hierarchy of historical documentation associated with regimes of colonial powers.
Indian Workers Association for Palestine 2024, taken by Meera Shakti Osborne
I want to note that this residency has taken place during a time of genocide against Palestinians. This genocide is a concrete manifestation of colonisation, happening in real time. At several points during this residency, all of the above has felt futile in the face of this. I don’t have any answers, I just want to share the doubts I have as to how much decolonising in the art world is real. (I am doubting both institutions and myself as an artist here.) Once, I asked a friend and mentor why we should go on living and creating while this genocide is happening. They said, if the people of Palestine are still able to love and have moments of joy, we have a duty to carry on and continue living and loving too. Free Palestine and all countries and people who are being and have been colonised (and all the colonisers too tbh, because they seem to be imprisoned by power and ego). No one’s free until all of us are free.
Partner Reflection
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum
Marguerite Nugent, Cultural Director
Martin Roberts, Curatorial Manager
August 2024
The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum has previously exhibited and collected work by artists who are traditionally under-represented in collections. However, the 20/20 project has given us the opportunity to fully engage with an artist throughout the commissioning process, from proposal stage to realisation of the new work. It also provided a peer network through which we have been able to learn from the experience of other partner institutions. The commission has been developed over two years, enabling us to develop a deeper relationship with the artist than we would typically when acquiring new work.
Overall, the 20/20 project has had an extremely positive impact on the Herbert. It has enabled us to build on recent initiatives that have aimed to critically review how we collect, interpret and display collections, how we programme, and how we work with artists, curators and communities.
Our artist in residence, Cora Sehgal Cuthbert, has been supported during development stages by the Collections and Archives teams as well as interacting with the Exhibitions, Learning & Engagement and Media teams about content, production and display, so there has been an impact on all these areas of the organisation. Taking learnings from the 20/20 Network Day in November 2023, we arranged for Cora to be introduced to our Chief Executive and two Trustees, including our Chair. This was useful in terms of their engagement and, since then, these key stakeholders have actively engaged, asking for regular updates on progress. The CEO, senior managers and trustees are now fully briefed on the significance of the project, its aims and outcomes, and can understand the wider impact on our company vision.
During the development of the commission, Cora has made regular visits to the Herbert, offering valuable feedback about the accessibility of the venue, which has supported our approach to equality, diversity and inclusion. Our current exhibition, Collecting Coventry (11 May 2024 – 27 April 2025), is intended as a way of opening up discussions with our audiences about collection and programming policies. It explores the history of the collection and showcases the depth and range of collecting activity both historically and in more recent years. Cora has provided feedback on the display and interpretation, and participated in a podcast on the subject of decolonising museums in the context of the Herbert collection. As a result, her impact has spread beyond producing new work to informing future ways of working.
Working in partnership with UAL has enabled us to maximise the use of resources, share knowledge and expertise, and build new relationships at a time when funding for the cultural sector is limited. The new work that Cora is creating will be a significant addition to the collection, supplementing recent acquisitions of work by artists of colour such as Leilah Babirye and Ali Cherri, which have been acquired through partnership projects with the National Gallery, Art Fund and Coventry Biennial.
