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About Erin O’Brien
PhD Researcher exploring museums, whiteness and institutional power
I am a researcher and writer exploring whiteness, ‘diversity’ initiatives, and decolonisation in the UK’s museum spaces
My work explores artistic and cultural praxis in exhibiting ‘race’ and colonialism in ways that do not further re-objectifying those long ‘othered’, and how museums can engage white audiences – and themselves – to see whiteness and the structures they stand within.
I am a Doctoral Researcher in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, funded by AHRC Midlands4Cities, and based in Bristol
Who is really ‘hard to reach’?
I don’t have a museum background; I have never been particularly drawn to museums, but I like the arts. I am quite a creative person, I used to draw a lot, and I still do some artwork, and I write poetry. Over time, I have, however, come to study museums as a way of critiquing them. This work is personal too, I have two children who are racialised differently, and as a white mum, I wanted to educate myself for them, so I can help them navigate the racial lines of our society as best I can.
