Who Really Owns This Art? A Smithsonian Insider Gets Honest

About this episode

Nicole Dowd discusses the colonial issues surrounding Western museums and the complexities of art ownership.

Your favorite museum might be built on stolen goods. Nicole Dowd works inside the Smithsonian, and she's not here to defend it. Saadia Khan sits down with Nicole to break it all down. As Head of Public Programs at the National Museum of Asian Art, she's sitting with the uncomfortable truth: Western museums have a colonial problem, and a fresh coat of "inclusivity" paint won't fix it. We get into repatriation, who really has access to art, the model minority myth, and what it means to be Korean, adopted, and suddenly surrounded by Korean treasures every day at work. This is the museum conversation nobody wants to have and exactly why we're having it. Link to NMAA website: https://asia.si.edu/ Link to IlluminAsia 2026 programming: https://asia.si.edu/whats-on/events/event-series/illuminasia-arts-and-culture-festival/ NMAA IG: @natasianart| post about IlluminAsia NMAA FB: https://www.facebook.com/NatAsianArt | post about IlluminAsia Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple…

People in this episode

Host: Saadia Khan

Guest: Nicole Dowd

Topics covered

• colonialism
• art repatriation
• museum ethics
• cultural access
• identity
• inclusivity

Keywords

• Smithsonian
• National Museum of Asian Art
• repatriation
• colonial problem
• Korean treasures
• model minority myth
• inclusivity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Smithsonian, National Museum of Asian Art, NMAA, IlluminAsia

Places: Korea

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