The multi-site exhibition Naming Natures - Natural History and Colonial Legacy, co-curated by historian Tomás Bartoletti and artist-researcher Denise Bertschi in collaboration with the Natural History Museum in Neuchâtel (MHNN) and the Neuchâtel Centre d’Art (CAN), approaches the history of Swiss naturalist Johann Jakob von Tschudi and his zoological collections allocated in Neuchâtel. The exhibition aims to raise public awareness of the conflicting past of natural history museums, and open a dialogue on the significance of integrating Indigenous perspectives to overcome potential biases in our current understanding of the environmental crisis.
Agnes Gehbald (Bern) visited the exhibition and paints an impressive picture in her review. She discusses the context of the collection, examines the concept of the exhibition and presents some of the exhibits. She concludes that this art-science exhibition «offers a convincing contribution to public discourse on the conflicted histories of natural history museums and the processes behind the construction of scientific collections. Through innovative approaches to postcolonial museography, Naming Natures invites reflection on processes of knowledge formation and the need to integrate Indigenous perspectives into our understanding of nature.»
Read the review on HSozKult and visit the exhibition in Neuchâtel until 18 August 2025!
Agnes Gehbald, Ausstellungsrezension zu: Naming Natures – Natural History and Colonial Legacy, 15.12.2024 - 18.08.2025 Neuchâtel, in: H-Soz-Kult, 21.06.2025, <https://www.hsozkult.de/exhibitionreview/id/reex-154874>.
