Provisional Semantics: Addressing the Challenges of Representing Multiple Perspectives Within Public Collections

This paper presents a reflective account of the AHRC-funded Provisional Semantics project, which focused on how museums and heritage organizations might produce search terms, catalogue entries and interpretation using ethical and equitable practices, particularly in relation to the artworks and histories of racialized and minoritized people, and in the context of a digitized national collection. As the project developed, the emphasis shifted toward a more fundamental enquiry into whether these objectives were achievable, given the structural racism and colonial logics inherent in the museum project and its conventions, histories, and infrastructure. Through a critical discussion of the project’s three case studies, the paper considers the following questions: what happens when we change words and clean data as a putative solution to problematic cataloguing? Can museums genuinely, equitably, and ethically represent multivocality? Why is embedded change in attitudes and behaviors hard to achieve and slow to happen? And is sector guidance for research and documentation fit for purpose in terms of genuine knowledge co-production and engagement?