Activities per year
Abstract
Through 2020 and 2021 UMAC has undertaken an “Ethics of Repatriation and Restitution” study in partnership with other ICOM groups (ETHCOM, ICME and ICOM Australia), and with UNIVERSEUM, the European network of university museums. Meeting ICOM’s commitment to research and address issues of decolonization, the project looks at guidance for museums and collections in universities on the issue of restitution and repatriation. It aims to raise awareness and sensitivity in universities and their museums and collections, by suggesting guidance, based on the state-of-the-art knowledge and practice in the wider museum community. A number of international meetings have been held and a range of individual cases of repatriation and restitution in universities have been discussed. Draft guidelines, intended to complement the existing ICOM Code of Ethics, are being proposed. We are seeking consultation and feedback on the draft from interested parties through the month of September, 2021.
The experience of university collections as case study examples for restitution and repatriation has proven pertinent because this sector has historically represented (and still does) a primary source of knowledge production in the broadest sense. Universities were at the centre of the cultural and political power of empires as knowledge generating organisations. Cultural and heritage dimensions were often disregarded and eclipsed by perceptions of the scientific value of an artefact. Knowledge from natural and man-made objects contributed to imperial economic power. A process of change that recognises and includes different knowledge systems is already underway in some universities. The roundtable will discuss how and why university museums and collections are templates for driving this change using individual examples as illustrations.
The experience of university collections as case study examples for restitution and repatriation has proven pertinent because this sector has historically represented (and still does) a primary source of knowledge production in the broadest sense. Universities were at the centre of the cultural and political power of empires as knowledge generating organisations. Cultural and heritage dimensions were often disregarded and eclipsed by perceptions of the scientific value of an artefact. Knowledge from natural and man-made objects contributed to imperial economic power. A process of change that recognises and includes different knowledge systems is already underway in some universities. The roundtable will discuss how and why university museums and collections are templates for driving this change using individual examples as illustrations.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 83-84 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | University Museums and Collections Journal |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2021 |
Event | UMAC-UNIVERSEUM 2021: New Opportunities & New Challenges in Times of COVID-19 - On-line Duration: 1 Sept 2021 → 3 Sept 2021 http://umac.icom.museum/activities/conferences/ |
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What does decolonizing the museum mean?
Andrew Simpson (Speaker), Mungo Campbell (Speaker) & Trần Nguyên Khang (Speaker)
4 May 2023Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
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ICOM Prague 2022
Andrew Simpson (Organiser)
21 Aug 2022 → 26 Aug 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organising a conference, workshop or event series
Impacts
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UMAC Guidance for Restitution and Return of Items from University Museums and Collections
Steph Scholten (Participant), Sally Yerkovich (Participant), Mathew Trinca (Participant) & Andrew Simpson (Participant)
Impact: Organisation impacts, Policy impacts