Decolonising the museum: who owns history in postcolonial spaces? Amazigh heritage in postcolonial Morocco

Abstract

Abstract

This paper engages with the global debates about cultural restitution – the demand for formerly colonised nations to reclaim their looted cultural artifacts from European and North American museums. Many museums in France, the UK, Germany, and beyond house treasures – from Benin bronzes to Amazigh jewellery to Egyptian mummies – obtained during colonial conquest. These objects are not just historical pieces; they carry epistemic power. They define whose history is visible, who gets to narrate it, and who is erased. This paper turns inward – to Morocco – as acontext where heritage politics remain shaped by deep-rooted colonial hegemonies. Specifically, it interrogates the place of Amazigh cultural heritage within Moroccan national museums. Despite the recognition of Tamazight as an official language in 2011 and the growing visibility of Amazigh symbolism in state discourse, the representation of Amazigh culture in Moroccan museums remains largely aestheticized. Drawing on archival sources, museum studies, and postcolonial theory, this paper argues that Moroccan heritage institutions have inherited and perpetuated colonial museological frameworks that treat Amazigh culture as a static past rather than a living, dynamic epistemology. This paper calls for a decolonial museology that goes beyond token inclusion to embrace Amazigh-led curation, oral practices, and communal custodianship.