DECOLONIAL MUSEUMS IN A TIME OF SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL CRISIS: CULTURAL LANDSCAPE AND THE REVITALISATION OF MUSEOLOGICAL THEORY

To ensure its contemporary relevance, the need for the redefinition of the Museum is widely acknowledged, and drives the present redefinition process called for by the International Council of Museums. This paper explores potential contributions from the conceptualisation of cultural landscape in the 2016 ICOM-SA/ICOMOS-SA `Declaration on Cultural Landscape', for the context of a decolonial South African museology in a time of social-ecological crisis. The analysis is influenced by Fiona Cameron's conception of a post-humanist museum practice (2015) that potentially disrupts traditional, dualist museological ontologies. The discussion looks towards potential contributions to the relevance and social sustainability of South African museums, to the understanding of museums' relationships with their physical surroundings, and to museums' agentive capacity in interactions with communities. The conception of Cultural Landscape may contribute fresh perspectives to museums' social, ecological and political sustainability, and help integrate these concerns into a relational framework of ideas and role players that may underpin an emergent museum practice suited to the entangled decolonial and ecological contexts. This may enable Cultural Landscape to contribute towards a revitalisation of museological theory and practice for the South African context.