Invitation to speak at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris)

The restitution of colonial loot as an issue has risen to considerable prominence in recent years, up to a point where we even see memes about the theft of cultural artifacts for the benefit of Western institutions in the relevant online spaces. Yet, this ‘turn to restitution’ has hardly affected natural history collections which still enjoy the reputation of the apolitical, of sterility, of something lying outside social and political struggles.

Three early career researchers working at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris have set out to change this, through a research seminar titled “Muséums et enjeux contemporains. Quels discours sur les collections d’histoire naturelle ?” From January to June 2025, this series will bring different experts to Paris each month, with the purpose of discussing contemporary issues and challenges in the world of natural history collections. The sessions will be open to the public and accessible through a hybrid format; the full programme of the seminar can be found here.

I’m excited to be a part of this series as well; the organisers were generous enough to invite me to speak about the restitution of natural history collections on 3 June 2025 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. You can find the abstract to my talk “A Tale of Two Museums: Introducing the Issue of Restitution to Natural History Museums” on the seminar website; click here to save the date.