Decolonising Archaeology in the Berlin Museums: An opportunity? Or an opportunity to ignore?

The decolonisation of archaeology can be a controversial issue. In the museums and heritage sector, there is often an opposition to the repatriation of artefacts from western museums to their countries of origin, either due to a fear of empty museums or a belief that the artefacts cannot be conserved as well in their destination countries.

This is no different in Berlin, where the various museums take different approaches to decolonisation. Many see it as an opportunity to explore the colonial origins of the artefacts in their exhibitions, funding research into their objects to determine their colonial provenance. Others reject this approach, viewing decolonisation as an issue for other western nations such as the UK and the Netherlands. Many of the objects now in Berlin museums, such as the Benin Bronzes, were looted by other empires and only came to Germany later. Some see this as absolving the museums of responsibility.

Dr. Chandrasekaran will be discussing these attitudes and more in her talk in D104 on Monday 20th February from 2-3pm.