Aliena Klaus

Email: aklaus@uni-bonn.de

As a research assistant for the exhibition space of the Global Heritage Lab, I work on the current exhibition and on the conception, organization and implementation of accompanying programs and events in order to create an engaging and lively space which encourages discussion and critical reflection.

During my undergraduate studies in Art History at the University of Vienna, I developed a strong interest in how Western museums and collections engage with Cultural Belongings appropriated under colonial oppression.

In my bachelor’s thesis, I critically analysed a cooperative provenance research project in which asymmetrical power relations persisted. This led me to examine the authoritarian and colonial continuities entrenched in museum institutions.

I am currently pursuing a master’s degree in Provenance Research and History of Collecting at the University of Bonn.

My interests lie in approaches that dismantle Eurocentric narratives and established epistemic authorities by developing transdisciplinary, international, and multi-perspective methods in research and curatorial practice.

Alongside being transparent in addressing the colonial past, I consider it fundamental to make the historical and contemporary cultural significance of Cultural Belongings visible through centering knowledge of those connected to the Cultural Belongings.