Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie

Decolonize Mitte! The Humboldt Forum, Museum Island, and Schloss

  • When Nov 19, 2018 from 06:00 to 08:00
  • Where Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum; Auditorium
  • Attendees Moderator: Ares Kalandides (NYU Berlin) Discussants: Annette Loeseke (NYU Berlin), Stephanie Pearson (NYU Berlin and Humboldt University), Wayne Modest (Research Centre for Material Culture, Amsterdam), Iris Rajanayagam (xart splitta, Berlin) (tbc).
  • iCal

Berlin Dialogues @NYU in cooperation with

Think & Drink Colloquium, Georg Simmel Center, Humboldt University

“Decolonize Mitte! The Humboldt Forum, Museum Island, and Schloss”

Location: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Grimm-Zentrum, Auditorium

Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 1/3
10117 Berlin

Moderator: Ares Kalandides (NYU Berlin)

Discussants: Annette Loeseke (NYU Berlin), Stephanie Pearson (NYU Berlin and Humboldt University), Wayne Modest (Research Centre for Material Culture, Amsterdam), Iris Rajanayagam (xart splitta, Berlin) (tbc).

As the Asian Art and Ethnological Museum collections move into the Humboldt Forum, questions have arisen about how to be responsible stewards of cultural heritage. Provenance research and repatriation are in the spotlight; but what is still missing from the public discourse is any recognition of—and attempt to grapple with—a far more pervasive problem: the colonial perspective that informs museum displays not only in the Forum (most evident in its architectural frame, the reconstructed imperial Schloss), but all across Museum Island. This public talk draws attention to the above challenges and searches for solutions.

It is the first of a series hosted by NYU Berlin, this time in cooperation with the Think & Drink Colloquium of the Georg Simmel Center, Humboldt University.