Decolonizing the Museum: A Conversation on Colonial Heritage in European Collections

4. May 2023
Panel discussion

European museums hoard treasures of objects many of which were acquired under dubious circumstances. Although the colonial heritage in European collections has been widely debated in recent years, many questions remain unanswered. How does one define ownership in a historical context of extreme power asymmetries? To what extent is the restitution of colonial objects a solution? And how are we to tackle the broader legacy of colonial knowledge production in which European museums were implied? We have invited museum experts and historians to discuss these questions with us.

Participants: Samuel Bachmann (Bern Historical Museum), Osarhieme
Osadolor (University of Benin), Anna Schmid (Museum der Kulturen Basel)
Moderation: Ettore Morelli (University of Basel)

Event organizer
A collaboration between the Basel Graduate School of History, the Department of History at the University of Zurich, and the Museum der Kulturen Basel

Venue

Universität Basel, Alte Universität
Rheinsprung 9
4051 
Basel

Contact

Lucas Burkart & Julia Tischler (Department of History, University of Basel), Anna Schmid (Museum der Kulturen Basel), Roberto Zaugg (Department of History, University of Zurich)

Event language(s)
English

Additional event information

Cost information

CHF 0.00