Buro Stedelijk: decolonizing the museum from within

Rita Ouédraogo, curator of Buro Stedelijk at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, discusses the platform's mission to decolonize the museum. Buro Stedelijk evolved from the SMBA satellite space (1993–2016) and was re-founded in 2022 with Azu Nwagbogu. It operates as a curatorial platform for emerging, community-based, and marginalized practices, emphasizing care, collaboration, and the deconstruction of colonial knowledge. Ouédraogo, trained in cultural anthropology and material culture, sees her role as a facilitator protecting space for experimentation and failure. Key challenges include negotiating institutional rules while fostering radical practices. Buro Stedelijk works outside the museum—in parks, nightclubs, schools—to reach those excluded by museum architecture and language. For the 2025 commemoration of the abolition of slavery in the Netherlands (July 1), they created a public art trajectory in the Staatsliedenbuurt neighborhood featuring poems by Babs Gons and illustrations by Jeanine Van Berkel. All activities are called "manifestations," including exhibitions, performances, and essays. A notable manifestation was "Truth," where the space was filled with water and projections of Miles Greenberg's performance.