Mark Walhimer’s Post

Memory scholars & P/CVE practitioners working on #memory after #terrorism , you are warmly invited to take part in this excellent research by Kostas Arvanitis!

How have eastern African cultures related to each other? Join us for ‘Material Cultures of Eastern Africa: New Historical Perspectives’ on 7 and 8 Feb to examine the appropriation of eastern African material cultural by collectors and museums. Book now: https://lnkd.in/eh8kjfQ5

It has been a week since my return from Cape Town, where I participated in the offline segment of the Sharing Stories on Contested Histories program, organised by Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands and Reinwardt Academie. Our week's schedule has been so busy that it's simply impossible to fit everything into one post (so stay tuned for more 🙂). What are my most important takeaways? First of all, these are the people with whom I had the opportunity to meet and have productive discussions and conversations (it was also incredible to see the same things from the perspective of young heritage professionals from all over the world - from the United States to Australia). Also I express gratitude for the opportunity to present experiences of my own museum - the Memorial Museum of Totalitarian Regimes "Territory of Terror”. The presentation’s title was clear and concise - "War Museum at the War." Secondly, I brought with me a large suitcase not of souvenirs, but of reflections on the museum's role in society, especially one that is recovering from colonial practices. Ours group concluding presentation delved into the intricacies of addressing heritage in the absence of physical remains — a predicament echoed by numerous museum exhibits we explored throughout the week. The poignant highlight for me was an empty, blackened room at the National Gallery of South Africa, prompting contemplation on communicating a nation's legacy when its authors have been banned, substituted or stolen. This is an experience that we know so well in Ukraine. The third facet encompasses the acquisition of skills, knowledge, role models, and inspiration from this comprehensive training program, spanning both its online and on-site components. These resources will help me and my institution's endeavors in establishing inclusive and non-toxic "comfort zones," while presenting not only decolonized perspectives of Ukraine but also narratives on multinational coexistence and collaboration in Lviv before, during, and after WWII.

One of our 2023-2024 editors, Sarah Hughes, is published by Columbia University for her Master's thesis, "Unsettling Taiwan’s Settler Narratives: A Decolonial Analysis of Museums as Sites of Political Redress for Indigenous Taiwan." Congratulations Sarah! Thank you for your research in Indigenous Peoples Rights and commitment to human rights. Abstract "This paper utilizes a decolonial lens coupled with qualitative critical discourse analysis to examine the capacity for political redress for Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples within Taipei’s museums. Recognizing the multiple layers of colonial encounters, of settler colonialism, external imperial regimes and contemporary neo-colonial threats – it analyses how the island chooses to portray its complex history in museums regarding Austronesian identity. Examining Indigenous representation within the context of Taiwan’s semi-sovereign reality, this paper emphasizes how settler narratives in museums continue to reduce and appropriate Indigeneity to legitimize the ROC distinct national identity as a multi-cultural liberal democracy. Understanding the colonial and nationalistic underpinnings of Taiwan’s museums, I argue that while a comprehensive decolonizing would require deeper interrogation – there is room for a radical imagining of what a museum of Indigenous redress could like in contemporary Taiwan." Read here: https://lnkd.in/e3h35Wp2

For the first time, the findings of a Germany-wide survey are providing an overview of human remains from colonial contexts present in museums and university collections. The survey was conducted by the German Contact Point for Collections from Colonial Contexts and commissioned by the Federal Government, the Länder and the municipal umbrella organisations. The evaluation of the data provided gives the following overview: Approximately 17,000 human remains from colonial contexts are held by the 33 surveyed institutions. Nearly half of these remains (about 46%) cannot currently be geographically identified. The majority of the geographically identifiable human remains come from Africa and Oceania, accounting for 71%. However, human remains from all continents exist in these institutions. Kulturstiftung der Länder #museums #universities #scientificinstitutions #colonialcontexts #survey #humanremains #kulturstiftungderländer

I learned yesterday that my Monograph on the History of the Museum of London will get a paperback version in August; 31,99GBP being much cheaper than the hardback (and more bendy, so easier to scribble your notes in): https://lnkd.in/e_QZdcA5. I really enjoyed writing this book, and given the charged and febrile public discourse around museums and their social role, I think it remains an important read for anyone interested in how museums (and other cultural institutions) approach, for example, decolonisation, or social justice in a contemporary context. Research on the history of museums and other cultural institutions is important as it helps us to understand key debates such as decolonization, restitution, representation of marginalized groups, and evolving museum functions. And, understanding museums' historical relationships with empire is crucial for critically evaluating practices, and reimagining their societal roles. This historical perspective provides insights into how museums have shaped cultural narratives, reinforced power dynamics, and produced knowledge over time. It informs efforts to make museums more inclusive and responsive to contemporary needs, addresses ongoing power imbalances in cultural representation, and enriches public debates about cultural heritage and national identity. And, by the time you have finished my monograph, my edited collection (which I am editing with my colleague Dr Matthew Jones), Museums, Empire and Decolonial Praxis, due to be published by Routledge in 2025, will be available for you to read 😅

Are you a researcher interested in colonial arts and preservation? Do you have an interest in objects and collections with a colonial context?Then this is for you 😊 The Dutch Research Council is calling on researchers interested in colonial arts to apply for its research grants. This grant aims to fosters collaboration between researchers from countries of origin and Dutch museums, promoting knowledge development and exchange on objects with a colonial context. Interested parties should apply through this link: https://lnkd.in/dSq-W_8B Applications close on the 19th of March 🇳🇱🇳🇬 #nlinigeria #scholarshipoppurtunity #culturalexchange #solvingglobalchallengestogether

I am very excited to share our recently published book ‘Colonial Heritage, Power, and Contestation: Negotiating Decolonisation in Latin America and the Caribbean’, edited together with Dr. Naomi Oosterman and Rodrigo Christofoletti. In this book, we had the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary and international group of researchers and practitioners who are engaged with contesting the enduring legacies of colonialism in cultural heritage, bringing forward decolonial perspectives aimed at challenging the colonial structure of power. Divided into four focus areas (Paths of Decolonisation; Restitution and Repatriation of Culture; Museums, Discourse and Power; and Frontiers of Decoloniality), the book presents a wide range of topics ranging from the repatriation and restitution of cultural heritage, decolonial practices around monuments, museums, and education, to colonial exceptionalism and diasporic movements. The chapters in this book provide innovative theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of (de)coloniality, which we hope will enrich the current international debate on the contestation of colonial legacies in cultural heritage. If you want to know more about the book, please do not hesitate to contact us! If you want to get the book, you can do so with a 20% discount until March 1, 2024 (physical and ebook versions) with the code ‘ACHS20’.  

Hello everyone, check the blog post by one of our co-chairs, Avi Margolis, on the polite Canadian narrative and how it harms the effort of decolonizing our museums. https://lnkd.in/gB6VrBGf