Lecture by Ilja Labischinski and Kristin Weber-Sinn (Zentralarchiv / Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz) within the Berlin Anthropology Seminars

Curating Postcolonial Provenance Research in the Humboldt Forum

Provenance research in general refers to the study of the origin and history of (im)material cultural objects or human remains. Its aim is to trace their histories from their creation to the present day, including their journey through so-called collections and trade as well as their respective ownership and storage/exhibition locations. On the one hand, the term "postcolonial" refers to the period of European colonialism, during which the majority of the objects were appropriated, and to its formal end. On the other hand, the term refers to the academic discourses of postcolonial studies, which shape the self-image, methods and goals of postcolonial provenance research. This includes critically questioning one's own position as a researcher and the cultural, political and economic power relations that have grown historically and continue to have an impact today. Equally important is the democratization of knowledge production through cooperative research with partners from the regions of origin of the objects and the diaspora.

This also concerns questions of forms of representation in museums against the background of the power/knowledge complex and its institutionalization. How can we communicate postcolonial provenance research and translate it into exhibition formats? How can this be realized in such a controversial/contested space as the Humboldt Forum? Based on two current exhibitions Against the Current. The Omaha, Francis La Flesche, and His Collection and Exhibiting.Omissions. Objects from Tanzania and the Colonial Archive, the curators and provenance researchers Ilja Labischinski and Kristin Weber-Sinn would like to discuss these and other questions.

This lecture is part of the bi-weekly Berlin Anthropology Seminars. This series constitutes a joint initiative by anthropologists from the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology at FU Berlin, ZMO, and Ethnologisches Museum. It intends to shape and cultivate an inclusive platform and open regular meeting point for exchange and discussion on current research by Berlin-based anthropologists. Please spread the word among colleagues, junior or senior, who may be interested. For further questions contact m.oschwald@fu-berlin.de
Organizers: Paola Ivanov, Claudia Liebelt, and Kai Kresse.