A quote:

"From the onset of the Enlightenment, museums were largely monuments to the idea of modernist progress. The exhibitions in these museums represented the development of scientific knowledge as well as the exploration and colonization of the world by European nations, with the spoils of that process being collected and classified in keeping with a sense of Western superiority. The vision shaping these institutions was one that stridently drew a line along the axis of modernity, imperialism and progress. The modernist project was considered to be linear and constant. The emergence of postmodern and post-colonial theory questioned the irreversibility of modernity and exposed the power relations that underlay colonial expansion. In so doing, it placed in question the whole nature of museums and their collections. The severance of the link between modernity and progress, combined with the recognition that museums could no longer be a confident expression of imperialism and colonialism, presented challenges to any new museum. The conundrum was especially acute for a museum that was given the mantle of a national museum. This was the case with the National Museum of Australia."