The fifth EDGES Symposium will happen in St Andrews, UK, between 8–10 July, with the theme “Unsettling the Museum: Thinking through Indigenous Entanglements”. The symposium will focus on the pressing questions reshaping museological practice in our time.
Pressured by social and political claims for reparation and the redistribution of authority in decision-making processes, some museums have recognised their entanglements with Indigenous cultures and the erasure produced by the appropriation of collections and the imposition of classificatory systems. In the present century, museums of different typologies — ethnographic, natural history, science museums, or art museums — have made efforts to include a greater diversity of voices and representations, positioning themselves as institutions engaged with the transformation of societies. But how are they also being transformed by Indigenous agency and curatorship? What are the potential uses assigned to museums by Indigenous curators, creators and artists in the present? And what are the ethical challenges observed in these collaborations?
These are some of the grounding questions constituting the basis of the debates we wish to undertake at the University of St Andrews in July 2026. By critically examining museum practice, methods and colonial legacies, our symposium is interested in unsettling established frameworks and perspectives based on the Western canon informing museum work.
Conference dates: 8th July – 10th July
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 8 July
3:00 pm
(Location TBC)
Performance: ‘Mi cuerpo es un museo (My Body is a Museum)’ — Neyen Pailamilla
4:00 – 5:00 pm
School 3
Opening Discussion Panel: Curators in Conversation — Moderation: Bruno Brulon Soares (School of Art History). Speakers: Ṗejuta Ḣaka (Science Museum of Minnesota); Jamille Pinheiro Dias (University of London); Giuliana Borea (Newcastle University)
5:30 pm
Lower Hall
Wine Reception
Thursday, 9 July
Younger Hall
Younger Hall
9:00–9:30 am
Registration
9:30 am
Welcoming Words
9:45–11:15 am
Panel Discussion 1: Curatorial Entanglements: Unsettling the Museum with Indigenous Knowledges — Moderation: Rodrigo Lacerda Fernandes (Universidade Nova de Lisboa). Speakers: Sandra Benites (FUNARTE); Leandro Guedes (IDG / UNIRIO); Neil Safier (Brown University); Leandro Varison (Musée du quai Branly). (One session with non-English speakers.)
11:30 am–1:00 pm
Panel Discussion 2: Indigenous Art and Agency: Decolonising Art History — Moderation: Natalia Sassu Suarez Ferri (School of Art History). Speakers: Neyen Pailamilla (they/them); Carlos Barrera Reyes (UNAM); Sarah Schmidt
1:00–2:00 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm
Film Screening: ‘Shared Island Stories’ project (Karen Brown)
2:00–3:30 pm
Paper Panel 1: Stories from Latin America and Scotland: Decolonial Approaches to Museums and Archives — Moderation: Patrick O’Hare & Camilla Ferreira Martinelli (School of Social Anthropology). Speakers: Nina Laurie (School of Geography); Natalia Ramirez (School of Art History); Valeria Caballero Aguilar (Independent researcher); Emilia Ferraro (University of Dundee); William McVean (School of Geography); Natasha Ferrão Coutinho (Museum of Image and Sound Foundation, Rio de Janeiro)
3:30–3:45 pm
Coffee Break
3:45–5:15 pm
Paper Panel 2: Care and Repair in Indigenous Curation — Moderation: Nina Laurie (School of Geography) & Huon Wardle (School of Social Anthropology). Speakers: Rodrigo Lacerda Fernandes (Universidade Nova de Lisboa); Ricardo Rubiales (Museo de Luz, Mérida); Leandro Guedes (IDG / UNIRIO); Patricia Elsa Brignole (Universidad Blas Pascal & National University of Córdoba); Jan Joris Visser (Independent researcher); Daniel Martin (University of St Andrews / University of Dundee)
5:15–5:30 pm
Closing Remarks
Friday, 10 July
10:00 am
Visit to the Wardlaw Museum
9:30 am
Welcoming Words
10:45 am–12:00 pm
Wardlaw Museum
Workshop in Textile Production — Carlos Barrera
12:00–1:00 pm
Guided Visits to the University of St Andrews (in Spanish and English)
For more information regarding the event visit the website.
Questions? Contact us at edgessymposium@gmail.com