Tag: Global Heritage Lab

New Publication by Associate Researcher Dr. Tobias Skowronek on Akan gold and West African trade

A cire perdue cast gold bead in situ is visible in the upper left of the photo. Flakes of gold dust and a silver coin (upper right) are also visible (Skowronek et al, 2026).

We are pleased to share that our fellow Dr. Tobias Skowronek has published a new article titled “Pirate Gold Provides New Insights into West African Trade Using pXRF and SEM-EDS Analysis.” The study offers fascinating new perspectives on historical trade networks in West Africa, combining innovative analytical techniques with interdisciplinary research.

Lecture and film by Behnaz Mirzai on African Slavery in Iran (11.12.25, 4-6pm)

The implicated researcher: Shifting positionalities in collaborative research and restitution projects How did the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Ottoman Tanzimat reforms reshape slavery across the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and Middle East?This talk by Behnaz Mirzai, Professor of Middle Eastern History at Brock University, examines the shared origins of Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire—neighboring […]

The Implicated Researcher: A Talk by Julia Binter at the ifeas in Mainz (02.12.25)

The implicated researcher: Shifting positionalities in collaborative research and restitution projects On 2 December 2025, Jun-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter will give a talk titled “The implicated researcher: Shifting positionalities in collaborative research and restitution projects.”Taking the collaborative research, exhibition and restitution project ‘Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures’ on the collections from Namibia at the […]

Film Screening – Cinéclub X Bonner Filmfair: Dahomey (19.11.2025)

©Les Films du Bal - Fanta Sy

Mati Diop’s award-winning documentary Dahomey explores the return of 26 royal artworks from the former Kingdom of Dahomey to their country of origin—present-day Benin. Looted during the colonial era and taken to France, these objects become the center of a film that reflects on self-determination, restitution, and the reimagining of cultural spaces. Awarded the Golden […]

Advancing Provenance Research: Annual Meeting of the Working Group Colonial Provenances at the Global Heritage Lab

Nehoa Hilma Kautondokwa, Cynthia Schimming and Julia Binter at the depot of the Ethnologischen Museum Berlin. Filmstill from Tracing Namibian-German Collaborations, a film by Moritz Fehr © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2020.

We are delighted to host this year’s meeting of the AG Koloniale Provenienzen (Working Group Colonial Provenances) at the Global Heritage Lab. The group addresses topics such as the development of long-term strategies for collection management, approaches to prioritizing individual holdings and making research findings accessible, as well as proposals for (transnational) networking and the institutionalization of provenance research at museums and universities.