Theme:
3. The Life of Archaeological Heritage in Society
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Collecting across Borders: Histories of Collecting and Current Debates on Collections
Content:
This session critically investigates interrelations between ideologies and practices of collecting, and concepts and constructions of borders. Today, there is a great need to address histories of colonial and imperial collecting, and the impact of collecting on the construction and understanding of borders and identities, in the past as well as the present. In many places in the world, local and Indigenous groups are today claiming the right to self-determination in heritage issues and demanding repatriation of museum collections. There is a need to deal with sensitive and traumatic histories, and to discuss how to handle contested collections in the future.
We invite papers dealing with, for instance, histories of collecting, concerning both material culture and human remains, histories of assembling collections, interrelations of ideologies and practices of collecting with various understandings of borders and identities, as well as protest and resistance from local and Indigenous communities against the collecting, excavation and plundering of material objects and ancestral remains. We welcome critical reflections on the politics and ethics of collecting over time, and encourage contributions that highlight critical current issues from different angles, from academic, heritage management and community perspectives.
We especially encourage contributions dealing with minority and Indigenous heritage. Papers might discuss specific case studies or more general and comparative themes. We also welcome papers dealing with networks of scholars and collectors, stretching across borders.
In the session, we would also like to address contemporary consequences of the histories of collecting and the importance of the collected heritage today. We invite contributions addressing present-day debates, collaborations and conflicts connected with histories of collecting across borders, and with current shifting borders and changing power dynamics, including decolonization, repatriation and reburial processes. We aim for an open and inclusive discussion in the session, with focus on possible constructive paths forward.
Keywords:
Collecting, Borders, Material culture, Human remains, Repatriation, Reburial
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Carl-Gösta Ojala (Sweden) 1
Co-organisers:
Hirofumi Kato (Japan) 2
Affiliations:
1. Uppsala University
2. Hokkaido University
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