Pre-conference Training Workshops

Decolonisation and restitution – The role of university museums in provenance research and its impact

Following the debates around the world over the last years concerning the ethics about cultural heritage collections, universities across Europe have been re- examining the history, provenance and nature of their academic heritage and collections. In this process, they have been facing the critical issue of their own colonial history and engaging with the origin of their collections in new ways. So far, there appears to be no clear consensus among the European university community as to what should be researched, documented, and especially restituted or repatriated, as well as on how to best include source communities into the process.

As these challenging questions underpin key areas of operation of university museums and the way we manage and engage with collections, it is important to keep an open dialogue and critically examine them as a community.
We therefore invite early career professionals and researchers (PhD students) to participate in this workshop on Decolonisation and restitution which will be organized prior to the Universeum annual conference in Belgium in July 2022.

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This workshop will focus on the issues related to provenance research which have been at the front of priorities for museums worldwide including university museums and collections. It will consist of two sessions coordinated by cultural heritage professionals and academics from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), as well as by members of Universeum and researchers closely working on this topic. Prior to the workshop participants will receive an information pack on the subject and will be asked to reflect on the publication Ethical Principles for the Management and Restitution of Colonial Collections in Belgium (June 2021).

The workshop will start with a lecture by a specialist in these matters having direct experience in dealing with restitution cases.
Workshop participants will then work in groups, selecting objects from the collections of the ULB to work on, which will provide the basis for further reflection. The workshop will involve closely examining the type of information and records available about the selected objects and their origin, the challenges raised, as well as discussing appropriate steps to manage these moving forward.

Some questions addressed at the workshop will be:

• What does provenance research involve and why is it important?
• How are the origin, role, and interpretation of university collections documentedand presented on institutional websites and databases?
• How are sensitive topics handled in our collections and documentation?
• How do we deal with objects from a colonial context?
• Whose heritage is it? When should it be restituted or repatriated, and how does this work (legally and practically)?
• How can we include source communities and other people concerned?
• Which ethical principles can we look at to best guide these processes?
• Should we limit ourselves to colonial contexts or enlarge the debate?
• What is the best way to communicate these issues to the public?
• How can we invite others to be part of the conversation?Participants will be encouraged to bring and relate to their own experiences when contributing to the discussions, as well as relate these to their points of interest and specialisms.
  At the end of the workshop, the groups will meet to present their findings and recommendations and discuss their approach. Participants will be invited to present the workshop results during the following Universeum annual conference (5-8 July).

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Application process: Applications should include:
1. Completed application form (from the website universeum2022.be)
2. A letter of motivation from the applicant explaining why they wish toparticipate and what they expect to gain from the workshop (1 A4 page)
3. A short CV (up to 1 A4 page) indicating studies, training, work experience,publications, and current work responsibilitiesApplications should be sent by email to universeum2022@ulb.be with the title: “application for Universeum pre-conference workshop 2022” before 31st March 2022.

Contact: If you have any questions about the workshop, please send an email to universeum2022@ulb.be

Object-based Methods of Academic Teaching

This one-day workshop is intended for people that have experience with the use of academic heritage collections in teaching. The workshop focuses on:  sharing knowledge and ideas about object-based learning and teaching; experiencing hands-on methods of object-based teaching and discussing objectives, methodologies, and the transfer from the classroom to the digital/online. 

The Workshop is part of the Erasmus Plus project “Teaching With Objects”, which started in March 2022 and will run for 3 years. The partners are: University of Strasbourg, the Coordination Centre for Scientific University Collections in Germany, University of Padua, Ghent University Museum, Things That Talk Foundation and the Dutch Foundation for Academic Heritage. 

The main goals of this project are to provide university teaching with new impulses for object-based teaching and learning in-situ, hybrid as well as online, thus also contributing to the valorization of academic collections. The methods and tools that will be collected, researched and developed will ultimately be made available in an open accessible toolbox web application. 

In the next three years the project aims to build a network of teachers, curators and people engaged in and with academic heritage to explore the opportunities and challenges of teaching with objects in the digital age.

During the Universeum Conference, an open workshop about Teaching with Objects will be organized by the Working group Digital Initiatives. Please see the program for more details about this workshop. 

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