The colonial past as a problem not closed in contemporaneity. Mental decolonization as an intercultural possibility. The case of the Virtual Museum of Lusophony

El pasado colonial como un problema no cerrado en la contemporaneidad. La descolonización mental como una posibilidad intercultural. El caso del Museo Virtual de Lusofonía

The colonial past still weighs heavily today, both in former colonizing countries and in those that have been colonized, emphasizing a western and one-sided vision of a narrative that is diverse but subordinate to countries that have been self-determined. during years. It is a process that is related to mentalities, therefore it is difficult and long, so that although decolonization has been carried out in administrative terms, it has not corresponded to the mental level, which has caused limitations and obvious divisions between the parties. In this particular case, we find the national museums that narrate the heroic deeds of the West, that whitewash the dynamics of the ex-colonized whose role refers to the “other” of the process. Thus, the debate arises about the need to decolonize museums in a process that is in full swing and that is felt in relation to the concept of museum itself, in an attempt to make it more inclusive, open to society for promote citizenship, underlining its intercultural nature. This implies a commitment to diversity and the reformulation of the paths of memory and the identities forged in a moment that is out of reality. And because it is a slow process, postcolonial criticism still struggles today for a distant vision of European ethnocentrism.