Introduction
In my previous blog, I described how the threshold to visit museums during my youth was simply too high due to our family’s financial situation. Today, the cultural sector likes to present itself as open and tolerant, but in reality, things are far more stubborn.
As I wrote in my blog ‘Is the museum for everyone?’, more than 2 million Dutch citizens live at or around the poverty line. Because of these circumstances, culture is forced to take the lowest priority for them.
But it is not just a lack of priority for those families; even the Dutch government—which launches its budget and most important political plans for the coming year every year on Prinsjesdag in September —did not dedicate a single word to art and culture in 2026.
Progressive and free?
Beyond financial barriers, the system raises much deeper, institutional thresholds around class, descent, and background. The cultural sector likes to see itself as progressive and free, but is it really?
In the NRC newspaper, I read two interviews with Gloria Wekker, emeritus professor of gender studies and ethnicity at Utrecht University. The first interview  from 2017 is titled: ‘White innocence doesn’t exist, but you don’t want to hear that from me’. The second  is a conversation from August 26, 2026: ‘The narrative of how exceptional, free, liberal, and colorblind we are must be seriously questioned’. Wekker is the author of the influential book White Innocence (2016; Dutch translation 2017).
According to her, it is precisely the highly educated, socially conscious people who believe they do not exclude others ‘by definition’. For those who never face exclusion themselves, societal privileges are often invisible.
Furthermore, according to her, we lack a common, unifying language to talk about this constructively. Highly progressive and well-meaning people often find it difficult to look critically at their own biases; they recognize exclusion flawlessly in others, but reflecting on their own actions clashes too violently with their positive self-image. As soon as the conversation about this is opened, people immediately go on the defensive out of a reflex of innocence. Discussions then quickly get bogged down in demands for quick fixes, instead of taking the time to truly understand the deeper problem.
Confronting my own blind spot
I wouldn’t necessarily describe myself as highly educated. I have worked ever since I was sixteen, and I acquired all my insights and knowledge through evening classes; I don’t hold a university degree. However, I feel deeply committed to those who have to shape their lives from a disadvantaged or subordinate position. My own background in a lower social class certainly led me to experience exclusion. That is exactly why I didn’t see myself as someone who excludes others—but that is likely my own blind spot, even though I have always hoped for a more just society.
The cultural archive
Gloria Wekker introduced the concept of the ‘cultural archive’: a reservoir of 400 years of colonial history that is deeply embedded in our language, our institutions, our expressions, and our perception of quality. In the art world, this manifests in white, Western art history still being silently viewed as the universal norm. Art from other traditions, by contrast, is often placed in a specific ‘ethnic’ or ‘diverse’ category.
The myth of the subjective ‘click’
The Knowledge Platform Integration & Society (KIS) also conducted research into institutional racism. Their reports ‘What works in tackling institutional racism’ (2021) and ‘Institutional racism in the Netherlands’ show that exclusion is stubbornly maintained by the myth of the subjective ‘click’. Within institutions and committees, curators often select acquisitions and grants based on feeling.
The research demonstrates that this intuitive feeling acts as the perfect cover for unconscious biases. People unconsciously choose individuals who resemble themselves, keeping the established order intact. The report warns that striving for ‘colorblindness’Â (pretending we don’t see differences) actually leads to more exclusion in practice, because it simply denies real barriers and unequal opportunities.
What can be done about it?
- Objective criteria: Selecting based on feelings or subjective bias must stop; institutions must strive for objectivity and transparency based on clear, measurable criteria.
- External accountability: The reports advocate for mandatory external accountability regarding the fairness, representativeness, and accessibility of acquisition and recruitment policies in practice.
- Inclusive leadership: It is crucial to hire professionals from outside the traditional art elite, entrusting them with executive authority and decision-making power at the highest level. Prominent examples include Charl Landvreugd at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and Gaby Ngcobo, director of Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam.
Hope
In short, I have hope that real changes can take place. In my next blog, I will write about the upcoming exhibition ‘You will find us in the best places’ by Moshekwa Langa at Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam, QISSA (a national talent development institution), and the exhibition ‘The 90s: Art and Fashion’ at Tate Britain. Maybe too much for a single blog, but then more will simply follow.
I hope you remain curious about my journey.
Johanna
