Ipswich Museum hiring curator to decolonise collections

Ipswich Museum features animals, objects and clothing gathered from around the world

A museum has advertised a £35,000-a-year job to help "decolonise" its collections.

Some displays at Ipswich Museum contain "culturally insensitive assumptions", Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service said.

The service is hiring a senior curator specialising in decolonial practice on a two-year contract.

A spokesman said it wanted to "ensure our displays are accurate, engaging and more inclusive".

The museum contains collections covering both human and natural history

Last year, the service approved a plan to review "problematic" displays which contained "certain artefacts of questionable provenance".

The strategy also applied to its other venues: Colchester Castle, Hollytrees Museum and the Natural History Museum in Colchester along with Ipswich Art Gallery and Christchurch Mansion.

The job advert said it was looking for a "committed social justice champion" to play a key role in "engaging and empowering a diverse range of people to radically reinterpret its collections".

The successful candidate would "address the legacies of imperialism, patriarchal power structures and inherent biases in our current displays".

"You will act as an advocate for tackling the colonial representation of objects, working to make the service more relevant and relatable to audiences," the advert said.

Ipswich Museum opened in 1881

The salary was listed as between £29,177 and £35,068 for 37 hours-a-week.

A spokesman for the service said the role at Ipswich Museum was being advertised after it received a £4.5m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to redevelop the site.

"Some displays contain interpretation written in a different cultural context and, at worst, present nostalgic fallacies and culturally insensitive assumptions," he said.

"We aim to ensure our displays are accurate, engaging and more inclusive, with more objects and more stories of greater relevance to a wider proportion of Ipswich residents.

"It's an exciting opportunity to be a part of this nationally significant project."