CONFERENCE

On November 14, 2024 we invite you to the conference “Sensitive Legacy in University Collections: Between Adaptation and Restitution”. The aim of the event is to learn about and discuss Australian, German and Polish perspectives on the problematic collection of human remains, ethnographic objects and photographs created in the early 20th century by the German researcher Hermann Klaatsch, which is currently in the collections of the University of Wrocław. This collection is the starting point for our discussion on the status of such collections, their cultural biography and, above all, whether their use in contemporary research is justified.

 

Participation in the conference is free of charge.
The number of places is limited. REGISTRATION is required.

 

PROGRAM and conference abstracts avaliable here.

 

Join us also on November 13, 2024 at the accompanying event: “Sensitive heritage of Wrocław at exhibitions” (in Polish). In this pre-conference panel discussion, we will talk with representatives of academia and museums about the sensitive heritage of Wrocław in exhibitions – in the context of their creation and communication – and projects at the intersection of art-science-activism. More information here.

Online streaming of the conference is foreseen. Watch it on our YouTube channel.

 

 

 

CONTEXT OF THE CONFERENCE

 

In 1945, as a result of the Potsdam Conference, Wrocław, formerly a German city of Breslau, became part of Poland. This transnational Polish-German context makes Wrocław, a unique city on the map of Europe, together with other cities and the entire area of the Western Territories that were then incorporated into Poland. The scientific collections of yesterday’s University of Breslau, which had been collected and saved from destruction, after the WWII became the property of the Polish state at the disposal of the University of Wrocław. The university’s possessions include ethnographic, archaeological and natural history collections as well as human remains collected by German scholars in the colonial period during research expeditions and used by them to pursue studies on, among other things, the origin and evolution of homo sapiens, race typologies, and eugenics.

 

A telling example of such heritage is the collection of human remains brought to Breslau/Wrocław from Australia by Professor Hermann Klaatsch at the beginning of the 20th century, and used in research conducted by Polish scholars after 1945. Such collections, although not gathered by Polish researchers, have become a sensitive legacy, a difficult heritage of the University of Wrocław illustrating non-obvious historical entanglements between Australia, Germany and Poland. Both their origin and their use raise ethical controversies today, that are set in the postcolonial, postwar and postcommunist contexts.

 

Hermann Klaatsch’s collections of human remains, ethnographic objects and photographs have become a starting point for us to open a discussion on the status of such collections, their cultural biography and, above all, the rights to use them in contemporary research. During the conference, we would like to reflect on the ethical aspects of working on and with such collections.

 

We want to discuss what are ethically appropriate procedures for using them, as well as whether their restitution, if any, is advisable. We are also interested in hearing the voices of scholars and museum professionals, especially those representing indigenous communities, researchers using such collections for scientific purposes and those who have been involvedin the restitution processes.

 

Organising Committee:

  • Prof. Renata Tańczuk, UWr
  • Dr. Jacek Małczyński, UWr
  • Dr. Katarzyna Williams, ANU
  • Dr. Agata Strządała, WMU & UMF
  • Dr. Łukasz Bukowiecki, UW
  • Mgr. Agnieszka Jabłońska, UMF

 

ORGANISERS:
Institute of Cultural Studies, University of Wrocław, the Urban Memory Foundation and Centre for European Studies – The Australian National University.
The conference is held as part of the project “MultiMemo – Multidirectional Memory: Remembering for Social Justice”, which UMF is implementing together with eight European partners thanks to funding from the European Union (CERV – Citizens Equality Rights and Values program).