Against a New Orthodoxy: Decolonised “Objectivity” in the Cataloguing and Description of Artworks

This article was commissioned by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in 2021 as part of its launch of the Paul Mellon Centre Photographic Archive. The brief was to reflect on the challenges of addressing sensitive, outdated, colonial, and racist words in the description and interpretation of art and artefacts. The article draws on findings from the AHRC-funded research project 'Provisional Semantics' (2020-2022) and argues that although problematic words and terms undoubtedly need to be identified and addressed, there is no single, universally appropriate way of doing this, and that specificity of context, transparency of purpose, and research are crucial to making meaningful change in cataloguing.