After Restitution: Museums as Archives for New African Histories

The History Department at the University of Bern and the Bern History Museum (BHM) are located only 2.3 kilometres apart, separated by a bridge over the River Aare. However, there have been limited exchanges on research projects until now. In order to encourage closer collaboration, the Chair of Modern History at the University of Bern is organising an interdisciplinary research seminar in the spring semester of 2026. The research seminar is organised in cooperation with the BHM, the research network Initiative Afrique, as well as the Walter Benjamin Kolleg, under the title: After Restitution. Museums as Archives for New African Histories.

 

After Restitution aims to initiate a debate: In what ways can museums serve as archives for social, global and colonial historiography of the African continent? Conversely, what insights might curators and provenance researchers gain from engaging in dialogue with researchers at the University of Bern? In light of global inequalities and ongoing demands for restitution, how can we reimagine interdisciplinary research and access to archives? In short, what happens after restitution?