Decolonizing and Indigenizing Approaches to Exhibition Curation: Textiles, Creators and Community

Abstract (English)

Armando and Diego will share the curatorial process behind Beyond the Vanishing Maya: Voices of a Land in Resistance at the Textile Museum of Canada. This exhibition challenges narratives of disappearance by centering contemporary Maya voices and their struggles for land, culture, and identity. Through a collaborative approach, the curators, themselves part of the Indigenous diaspora present in what is now known as North & Central America, work closely with Maya communities, artists, and activists to ensure that the exhibition reflected lived experiences.
Armando and Diego will discuss the challenges of co-creating an exhibition that resists extractive museum practices, navigating power dynamics between institutions and Indigenous knowledge holders. They will highlight their strategies for incorporating Maya perspectives in exhibition design, text, and programming, ensuring that the narrative remains rooted in self-representation and resistance. The presentation will also address how textiles function as sites of cultural survival and political assertion, challenging stereotypes that portray Maya communities as relics of the past.
By sharing insights from this process, the presenters aim to provoke discussion on ethical curation, Indigenous agency in museums, and the role of exhibitions in amplifying resistance movements. This session will be of interest to anthropologists, museum professionals, scholars, and anyone engaged in decolonizing and Indigenizing curatorial practices.