Post-truth Museums and Their Post-colonial Directors

Post-truth Museums and Their Post-colonial Directors

From Art Is Not a Thing by Ars Electronica

October 31, 2025 · 23 min · Season 2 · Episode 5

About this episode

Hannah Balber interviews Nora Al-Badri about the implications of colonial inscriptions in European cultural heritage and the debates surrounding restitution.

In this episode, Hannah Balber talks to German-Iraqi artist Nora Al-Badri about the colonial inscriptions borne by Europe’s cultural heritage. Her work, The Post-truth Museum, reignites seemingly irresolvable debates about restitution. In glitchy deepfakes, the artist puts postcolonial theory in the mouths of former museum directors (rather than institutional discourse), in an attempt to signal where discussions of restitution need to start. Art Is Not a Thing is produced by Ars Electron...

People in this episode

Host: Hannah Balber

Guest: Nora Al-Badri

Topics covered

  • post-truth
  • museums
  • colonial heritage
  • restitution
  • postcolonial theory
  • art

Keywords

  • post-truth
  • museums
  • colonialism
  • restitution
  • deepfakes
  • postcolonial theory

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ars Electronica

Books & works: The Post-truth Museum

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