Reclaiming History in the British Museum entranceway: imperialism, patronage and female, queer and black legacies

ABSTRACT Today the British Museum (BM) entranceway consecrates imperialism and patronage. Undertaken as a journey, this paper reclaims its invisible female, queer and black legacies. In recent years there has been widespread acknowledgement that the BM needs to address its role in the British Empire. Yet, in the twenty-first century, the museum has shored up its imperial inheritance through its refurbished entranceway: the Weston Great Hall and Queen Elizabeth II Great Court. In these introductory chambers, imperialism provides the backdrop for the contemporary donors’ names and exclusive corporate events. Here, museum heritage has become an arrow that signals progress through economic capital. I argue that the BM’s reinforcement of its imperial legacy in the twenty-first century has come at the expense of other claims. Exploration of the historic entranceway shows it facilitated visitors’ long-term engagement through artmaking on-site and the (now closed) Reading Room. Female, queer and black participants undertook creative, transgressive and political activities that led to social change. Anne Seymour Damer, Joel Augustus Rogers and Virginia Woolf developed practices that have particular significance for the museum. Reclaiming hidden female, queer and black legacies in the entranceway points to future inclusions. Importantly, these reclaimed histories are not quiet, counter moments pulled from the corners of the BM’s vast estate; rather, they once took centre stage.