About dinosaurs and chameleons, or the representational role of museums: Place-holders for what, for whom and under which circunstances?

Taking the International Council of Museums (ICOM) recently revised museum definition by its word, this essay reflects on the history of the museum's representational role to consider possible ways forward to implement its new emphasis on inclusivity and community participation. Drawing mainly on institutional critique, new museology, and decolonial thought, two curatorial approaches are analysed that could lead the way towards a placemaking approach to museology: artist's José Miguel González Casanova's curatorial project Jardín de Academus [Garden of Academus] (2011) at the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City, and the curatorial approach of the first co-directors of the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (MAM-RJ) Pablo Lafuente and Keyna Eleison.