News

Yohannes Mulat Mekonnen will be presenting his research paper titled “Against the Tyranny of Text: Multimodal Unwriting of Ethnographic Museums” at the 17th International SIEF Congress, taking place from June 3–6, 2025, at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Join us for the launch of Prof. Dr. Dan Hick’s book ‘Every Monument Will Fall’ on Friday, 23 May 2025, at 4pm at the Global Heritage Lab. Prof. Hick’s will share his thoughts on monumentality, endurance, and public memory with a talk on ‘Crumbling is not an Instant’s Act’. He is joined by discussants Prof. Dr. Sophia Labadi and Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter.

What are possible futures of collections? Golda Ha-Eiros, National Museum of Namibia, and Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter, Global Heritage Lab, discussed this question with regard to their collaborative research, exhibition and restitution project “Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures” at the conference “The Future of Collections”, organised by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

We are pleased to invite you to the first Heritage Week at the University of Bonn, which will take place from 19 to 23 May. During this week, different institutes of the University of Bonn invite scholars to open up conversations and critical reflections on various approaches to heritage in a global context. The proposed agenda includes discussions on nature-culture and sustainability, indigenous heritage and cultural landscapes in the Americas and Africa, as well as on the coloniality of statues and monuments. 

Join us as we journey through the past while looking towards alternative and sustainable futures together. We look forward to welcoming you for an inspiring Heritage Week!

Opening on 15 May 2025, “Dressing Resistance. Fashion and the Heritage of Mission” explores how Christian missionisation has influenced fashion in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean – and how fashion designers and artists deal with this legacy today. The exhibition includes works by Tuli Mekondjo, Cheryl McIntosh, Amanda McIntyre, Loo Nascimento, and many more. Visitors are invited to take part in hands-on activities such as doll-making and weaving.

On April 27th, 2025, 4:00-6:00pm, there will be a workshop and film screening as part of the exhibition “Global Entanglements in the Collections of the University of Bonn”, Global Heritage Lab @ P26. FOR THE LAND (POR LA TIERRA) Hosted By Raquel Cortés Mora & Hanna Bölck, Followed by a discussion with Postdoctoral Researcher Alejandro Mora Motta

In his video work Can you take care of my plants when I’m away (2024), Hemansingh Lutchmun, based in Frankfurt and Goodlands (Mauritius), explores intersections of labour, exploitation, and displacement. Filmed in the garden of “Château Labourdonnais,” a former colonial mansion and sugar plantation on Mauritius, the video subtly captures moments from everyday life—gardeners at work, tourists strolling through the estate—while a phone conversation between the artist and his mother unfolds in the background. Their discussion touches on family ties to the plantation, remnants of a Hindu-influenced cultural identity, and broader reflections on class relations, racial hierarchies, and the legacy of wage labour.

On April 8th, 2025, 19:00h, there will be a screening of the award-winning documentary THE ILLUSION OF ABUNDANCE in the Brotfabrik, directed by Erika Gonzalez Ramirez and Matthieu Lietaert (Belgium/Brazil 2022). Our research manager Aline Pereira will take part in the subsequent discussion.

Interessieren Dich Musik, Sprachen, Geschichte, Religion, Politik und Medien? Du bist zwischen 13 und 19 Jahre alt? Dann ist die Wissenschaftsrallye am 10. Mai rund um den Hofgarten das Richtige für Dich!

The Global Heritage Lab congratulates Dr. Kelechi Uguwanyi on his new position at the University of Glasgow.