Other museums: The disruptive potency of curatorship for the emergence of other modes of power, knowing, and being

Abstract

In Brazil, the decolonial turn has prompted a discursive reconfiguration of art museums over the last decade, primarily through exhibitions driven by critical and reparative thinking. Consequently, alternative perspectives have emerged, aiming to propose exhibition narratives rooted in marginalized knowledge and imaginaries. Focusing on the Museu de Arte do Rio (Rio Museum of Art) as a privileged place of thought, this article delves into the curatorial methodologies employed for two exhibitions: Mulheres na Coleção MAR and Casa Carioca. These exhibitions have paved the way for another way of being a museum, holistically committed to its decolonization. While the sustainability of the changes brought about by these exhibitions may be questioned, it is recognized to acknowledge their role in collaborating to establish other interpretative frameworks for understanding local realities, defining as the primary beneficiaries of this process, not the museums themselves but the communities and individuals who grapple with the daily impacts of coloniality.