Towards a Possible Bahujan Art History in World Cultures Museums

This paper introduces preliminary research into the possibility that the concept ‘Bahujan’ has in world-making and futures, inside museum collections. Bahujan, a political term meaning ‘many, or ‘majority’ refers to the diversity of religious peoples who numerically make up a majority in comparison to so-called twice-born Hindus, but whose practices, social positions, and everyday lives are increasingly marginalized in India and in diaspora communities. Historically, institutions have prioritized casteist perspectives on and of South Asian religious material culture, based on colonial logics of classification and history. These perspectives have rearticulated themselves in contemporary diasporic narratives, often normalized through appeals to affect and heritage. What is at stake for contemporary museum practice if we mobilize ‘Bahujan’ as an art-historical concept? This paper approaches this broad question by working through examples of Indo-Caribbean and Indian Ocean religious materiality.