Projects
A Laboratory for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue?
By Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter
Can missionary collections become laboratories for intercultural and interreligious dialogue? An international, transdisciplinary conference seeks to answer this question by bringing together experts from the Study of Religions, Theology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Global History, Art History, History of Science, Regional Studies of Africa, Oceania, South East Asia and South America as well as Critical Museum […]
Global Entanglements in the Collections of the University of Bonn
By Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter
The Exhibition ‘Global Entanglements in the Collections of the University of Bonn’ is the inaugural exhibition in the new exhibition space of the Global Heritage Lab at P26. It was curated in the summer semester of 2024 in the course ‘Curating in Practice’ under the direction of Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter. The aim of the […]
Lecture Series: Engaged Anthropology -Reimagining Social Transformation in Collaborative Anthropological Research
By Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter
Julia Binter, Argelander Professor for Critical Museum and Heritage Studies, and Sascha Sistenich, Doctoral Fellow at the Institute for Cultural Anthropology, are organising the lecture series “Engaged Anthropology. Reimagining Social Transformation in Collaborative Anthropological Research” in the winter term 2024/25. Join us at the Global Heritage Lab at P26 or online! Lunch Lecture Tuesday 12 […]
Global Heritage Lab Seminar Series
By Dr. Alejandro Mora Motta and Dr. J. Kelechi Ugwuanyi
As a space for experimentation and dialogue, the Global Heritage Lab Seminar Series seeks to critically explore multiple pasts and presents to envision alternative futures. It aims to bring scholars and practitioners from across the globe together to engage, interact and address the current global multi-faceted crisis involving economic, ecological, social and cultural challenges and […]
Argelander Academy
By Dr. J. Kelechi Ugwuanyi and Dr. Alejandro Mora Motta
This Argelander Academy brings four postdoctoral scholars to the Global Heritage Lab, two from Nigeria and two from Colombia. It creates a platform for dialogue and seeks to examine and complicate how indigenous/local peoples apply heritage to adapt and often resist extractivism and climate emergencies in Africa and Latin America, which are related to the coloniality […]
Botanic Futures – Researching and Curating Colonial Entanglements and Biodiversity Conservation in Botanic Gardens
By Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter and Joanne Rodriguez
Botanic Futures – Researching and Curating Colonial Entanglements and Biodiversity Conservation in Botanic Gardens Research Teaching Project Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter and Joanne Rodriguez, in cooperation with Dr. Cornelia Löhne, Botanic Gardens, University of Bonn Botanic gardens shape our understanding of “nature.” Historically and today, they promote our appreciation of biodiversity. At the same time […]
Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures
By Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter
How can we develop more equitable and sustainable ways of collaboratively researching, curating and returning collections from colonial contexts? The project ‘Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures’ focuses on the preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and the unlocking of the healing and creative potential of the colonial collections from Namibia at the Ethnologisches Museum in […]
‘Decolonial’ heritage and public memories?
By Prof. Dr. Sophia Labadi
How can a ‘decolonial’ approach to heritage help to confront the urgent questions of our time and contribute to building more sustainable and just futures? How have African countries dealt with, revisited, and addressed Eurocentric public memorial approaches after gaining independence? These are some of the questions that Prof. Dr. Sophia Labadi seeks to address […]
Dissonant Heritage and Ontological Ambivalence
By Prof. Dr. Paul Basu and Dr. J. Kelechi Ugwuanyi
This pilot study explores the dissonant heritage and ontological ambivalence resulting from colonial/missionary encounters with Igbo cosmology, particularly in relation to the Igbo concept of nso ani, literally translated to sanction or taboo. Nso ani provided the principles for establishing rules and values that guided life and living among Igbo communities to maintain the rhythm […]
Mining, Metals and Manillas in the Atlantic Slave Trade: Pilot Study
By Prof. Dr. Paul Basu and Dr. Tobias Skowronek
Between the 15th and 20th centuries, hundreds of millions of species known as manillas were shipped from Europe to West Africa. These open horseshoe-shaped rings made of metal have been traded for the enslaved, as well as gold, ivory, palm oil, and many more commodities. However, despite the enormous industrial scale of their manufacture, alarmingly […]
‘The Representation of Black People in European Art and Material Culture: An Examination of the Tucher Family Coat of Arms’
By Eleonora Grammatikou
The representation of Black people in European art and material culture offers profound insights into historical perceptions and representations of people from Africa and the African diaspora in Europe. This research is dedicated to a detailed analysis of the Tucher family coat of arms, which since 1345 depicts a Black person in profile. This case […]
Pluriversal Dialogues on Environmental Ethics: Decolonising Scientific Practice to Build Futures Beyond ‘Development’
By Dr. Alejandro Mora Motta
Coordination Team: This project is being co-organized by a consortium of researchers from different institutes at the University of Bonn. Dr Alejandro Mora Mottaa (coord. TRA 5), Emilia Fernengel, Prof Dr Paul Basua, Dr Jan Linhart (coord. TRA 4 and Argelander) b, Prof. Dr Christiane Woopenb, Dr Dennis Avilés Iraholac, PD Dr Eva Youkhanac, & […]
The Stone Sculptures of San Agustín
By Emilia Fernengel
The promoted “peace” in Colombia changed the country’s image in the past years from one of the most dangerous places in the world to a booming travel destination. Besides the sun and sea destinations in the Caribbean Sea, Colombia primarily promotes its natural and cultural heritage sites. One ofthem is the UNESCO World Heritage Site […]
Artistic Research and Communal Knowledge. Building Trust for a Better Future
By Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter
How can art help to bridge rural-urban and generational divides? The project ‘Artistic Research and Communal Knowledge’ builds on and closely interrelates with the collaborative research, curation and restitution project ‘Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures’. It brings together contemporary artists and communal knowledge keepers and creators in Namibia to develop new, more equitable ways […]
Restitution of Colonial Anthropological Knowledge in Ghana
By William Nsuiban Gmayi
Issues of restitution, repatriation and repair dominate contemporary debates relating to anthropological, world art and world cultures museums and collections. As part of a wider call to decolonise institutions of knowledge production such as museums, archives and universities, questions around African collections in European museums were brought to the foreground in a speech by the […]