COLONIALISM IN THE MUSEUM. CONFLICTS, POTENTIALS, PUBLICS

16th September 2017, Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany
Free entry

How do museums engage with their colonial legacies? What modes of research and display have been tried and negotiated in different disciplinary settings in Europe? What can visitor reactions tell us about the public discourses and memory politics surrounding this sensitive topic? The conference offers a platform to discuss these and many more questions from an interdisciplinary perspective. It is organised in the framework of the exhibition “The Blind Spot. Bremen, Colonialism and Art” (5 August to 19 November 2017) at the Kunsthalle Bremen

The conference invites academics, museum professionals and everyone interested in the topic to participate in the current debate about the ways in which to tackle colonialism in museums. Alexis von Poser, curator of the exhibition “Heikles Erbe” (2016-2017) at the Landesmuseum Hannover and Heike Hartmann, curator of the exhibition “Deutscher Kolonialismus” / ”German Colonialism” (2016-2017) at the German Historical Museum Berlin, give a look behind the scenes. They reflect on their (collaborative) research and exhibition processes and discuss the reactions to the exhibitions by the visitors and the press. International guests such as Tanya Barson, curator of the exhibition "Afro Modern. Journeys through the Black Atlantic" (2010) at the Tate Liverpool, give an insight into projects in other European countries. The art historian Kea Wienand (Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg) examines German colonial history as topic and reference point for postcolonial art. In his keynote speech, Wayne Modest, Professor for Material Culture Studies and Head of Research at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, addresses not only the obstacles and conflicts, but also the potentials of engaging with colonial legacies and postcolonial topics in museums.

The presentations will be given in German and English.

Programme:
09:30 a.m.:      Welcome Receptio
10 a.m.:           Welcome Address by Christoph Grunenberg, Direktor der Kunsthalle Bremen
10:30 a.m.:      Keynote: Wayne Modest, Professor for Material Culture Studies & Head of Research Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam
11:30–12:15: Alexis von Poser, Curator of the exhibition „Heikles Erbe. Koloniale Spuren bis heute“ (2016–2017), Landesmuseum Hannover
12:15–13:00 Uhr: Heike Hartmann, Curator of the exhibition „German Colonialism. Fragments Past and Present“ (2016–2017), Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin
Discussant: Ndzozo Awono, Doctoral Candidate, University of Hamburg, Project “Colonial Traces in the Übersee-Museum Bremen“
13:00–14:30 p.m.: Lunch break
14:30–15:15 p.m. Tanya Barson, Curator of the exhibition „Afro Modern. Journeys through the Black Atlantic“ (2010), Tate Liverpool
15:15–16:00 p.m.: Kea Wienand, „Künstlerische Formen der Erinnerung an ‚deutsche’ Kolonialgeschichte“, Carl von Ossietzky Universität OldenburgDiscussant: Ngozi Schommers, artist, living and working in Bremen and Ghana
16:00–16:30 p.m.: Coffee break
16:30–17:15 Uhr: Julia Binter, Curator of the exhibition “The Blind Spot. Bremen, Colonialism and Art“ (2017), Kunsthalle Bremer
Discussant: tba 
17:15–18:30 p.m.: Visit to the Town Hall and Hew Locke’s installation „Cui Bono“ (2017), concluding discussion.
Discussant: Virginie Kamche, Promoter for Migration, Diaspora and Development; Afrika Netzwerk Bremen e.V. / Africa Network Bremen