Couldn’t let today’s #MuseumsUnlocked pass without a thread about the outstanding work of Sudanese potter Mbitim, collected by @PowellCotton in 1931 and displayed for decades by the museum as an example of Percy’s good relationship with ppl he collected from.

In forming a narrative around Percy and Hannah’s forward thinking nature in championing African ‘art’, the contribution of Mbitim as an astute businessman and the complex role of European run hospitals as places of contact has been erased.

Stories like this became more important in the late 20th century as a way of shifting public perception from the Hunter/explorer narrative to the ‘good’ colonial. Both perspectives erase the agency of Sudanese men and women at the heart of these narratives. #MuseumsUnlocked