Defining ethical Collecting:

What is Ethical Collecting?

Defining ethical collecting in museums as a practice today: Ethical collecting is a practice of collecting that requires an institution from the director to the collections manager to the curator to consider the ethical manner in which they accession, care for, and deaccession objects within a museum’s collection. Simply put, ethical collecting requires the museum practitioner to ask themselves a series of questions before they acquire the work: Do the objects that I am acquiring have a provenance history? If so, is that provenance history factual and well researched? Does the work of art in question come from a historically marginalized group of people? For example, if the work of art in question came from Germany one should ask themselves if they have done their due diligence to ensure the work was not looted by Nazis. In other words, before a curator acquires a work of art they must complete extensive research on the piece to ensure that the object they are acquiring for the collection was not stolen, to double check that the work is in not fake, and to consider if that work of art fit’s into the museum’s mission among several other important factors. Concurrently, once in a museum’s collection objects still need to be treated ethically with care. For example, if you encounter an object in your collection such as human remains or an object you believe might hold ceremonial purpose to another group of people or culture it is suggested that you reach out to that culture to ensure that they know the work is in your collection so that you can begin a conversation with them about next best steps. Perhaps, that conversation starts the process of deaccessioning that object and repatriating it back to that specific group of people or perhaps that conversation leads to you to keep that object within your collection but allows those specific people to collaboratively curate the didactic for that object in a more sensitive manner.

How do we form ethical collecting policies?

How do museum’s actually institute new ethical collecting policies?
- Form new ethical working groups. These working groups can consist of several important stakeholders at your museum and include community members.
- Discuss a timeframe and a goal for Ethical Collecting in your institution. What does your vision of ethical collecting look like? How quickly can you execute it?
- Create checklists and evaluate the likelihood of an object on a scale of one to ten to be repatriated
- Research the history of an object more fully, including provenance, and the history of the object in other institutions.

Why Do we need ethical collecting?

Why do we need to treat our collections with sensitivity and care? Historically, collections which were acquired for museums have been collected in ways that are unethical or unacceptable by today’s standards. As such, museum’s need to institute new policies that require us to think ethically.

Institutions such as the Smithsonian are actively in the process of creating ethical collecting policies. Please read this statement on their new policy on ethical collecting.

“We value being proactive rather than simply responsive in addressing issues related to past collecting. We will work in partnership with individuals and communities, as well as with inter-governmental and regional stakeholders, regarding the care and potential return of human remains and/or objects of tangible cultural heritage in Smithsonian collections, including sharing associated information, not only when legally required but when ethically obligated, advocating thoughtful engagement with communities and mutual knowledge-sharing and capacity building.”

Please also refer to these set of ethical practices that museum professions should refer to that was recently published by the Harvard Peabody Museum,

Recognize and sustain the rights and interests of the peoples whose cultural heritage is in the  museum
Acknowledge and address the structural legacies of colonial and racial biases at the museum
Engage in transparent and honest dialogue with the diverse peoples for whom the collections hold meaning 
Center the agency and resilience of Indigenous communities in historical and contemporary narratives
Privilege community values, knowledge and voices
Share authority with communities to ensure culturally appropriate museum practices

Active Ethical Collecting

Questions might arise when curators are actively collecting in the 21st century.

Does this object fit my museum’s mission statement? What are important examples of institutions collecting objects with ethical considerations?

Please refer to these two New York Times articles as important examples of active ethical collecting practices. History museums, such as the Missouri History Museum, among several other history museums and institutions throughout the United States, in the wake of powerful protests, have begun to collect objects related to important historical events.

“”It is critical that we collect so this moment does not get lost,” said Aaron Bryant, a curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.”

“Though curators have long secured select artifacts whose significance was immediately apparent, museum experts say the scope of what the African American museum and others now call “rapid response collecting” has grown significantly in recent years.”

Controversial Ethical collecting

Why is it controversial to diversify and add works of art to one’s collection that reflect the entire United States? Historically, museums have not collected works of art by these important and influential individuals. Museum’s are currently working to actively diversify their collections. Museum’s want to create collections that are more equitable. This practice involves acquiring objects with a specific mission, such as buying works made only by women, Black, Jewish, Latino, or LGBTQ artists. Museum’s today, although they still face backlash for these collecting practices, are working to acquire objects that will round out their collection. It is necessary for museum’s to continue these diverse collecting practices. Meaning these collecting practices cannot nearly be performative, they must continue to collect diverse artists in perpetuity. Please refer to the following articles for institutions that are actively collecting objects by important diverse artists.

The Baltimore Museum of Art Concludes a Year of Collecting Work by Only Women Artists

SFMOMA Sold a Rothko for $50 Million to Diversify Its Collection. Here’s What They Bought With the Proceeds

The following statement from the director at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam is a good example of the ways in which institution’s are proposing to diversify their collections to make up for their historic exclusionary collecting practices.

“The imbalance in our collection, and in other areas, is painful and we must do all we can to remedy this deficiency. This is why, as director of this museum, I want to allocate a significantly larger portion of our acquisition budget to work by artists of color and artists with a non-Western background. We have already stated in our policy plan for the coming years 2021 to 2024, that the Stedelijk will earmark at least 50% of our acquisition budget for such purchases. Also, over the next few years, our exhibition program will place far greater focus on featuring artists of color or artists with a non-Western background, with a solo exhibition once per year, as well as exhibitions that reflect on issues relating to decolonization and globalization. However, the urgency of the current debate underlines the need to intensify our efforts this year—we must take action now. I intend to open a conversation with the municipality of Amsterdam, as the owner of the collection, to translate this urgency into tangible and measurable new actions that can have material impact. These are the first steps. It is high time that museums not only recognize the problem, but take action to ensure that the museum is a place that welcomes and represents each and every visitor.”— Rein Wolfs, Director Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

So far we have seen ethical collecting practices that work towards decolonizing the museum, but what happens when ethical collecting is in a moral gray zone? The following example that occurred at Harvard wherein a descendant of an enslaved individual lost a case against Harvard for claiming the right to own a photo of her enslaved ancestor is antithetical to the work Sustaining Places advocates for when we discuss best “ethical collecting” practices. Another example of unethical collecting is found in this ArtNews article. In this article you can see the controversial history of institutions collecting artworks by prominent Black artists.