Upcoming lecture 'A Tale of Two Museums - Introducing the Issue of Restitution to Natural History Museums' (Paris/hybrid)

• What: Lecture with Q&A, titled "A Tale of Two Museums - Introducing the Issue of Restitution to Natural History Museums"
• When: 3 June 2025, 5.30 - 7.30 pm (GMT+1)
• Where: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Amphithéâtre Rouelle (Jardin des Plantes) as well as online (link will be provided here)

• Abstract: Ever since Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy published their Rapport sur la restitution du patrimoine culturel africain in 2018, the issue of restitution has risen to prominence in the landscape of European museums. Museum staff, civil society, and governments in the Global North and Global South alike continue to negotiate issues of ownership, stewardship, conservation, and justice. Their usual focus: sacred artifacts, ancestral remains, cultural goods. Natural history museums, on the other hand, are only beginning to experience the first reverberations of this trend. This dichotomy is, however, a false one: blind to the intertwined genealogy of natural history collections and ethnological museums, and an impediment to synergies that would advance the cause of justice in both realms.

  This lecture makes a case for an integrated perspective on restitution that understands natural history collections and ‘conventional’ cultural artifacts as two sides of the same coin­—without losing sight of the particularities of the former. It is through this lens that the lecture proceeds to discuss the legal framework for the restitution of natural history objects, notably its pitfalls and potentials. A number of case studies on objects from different scientific disciplines adds the nuance that is crucial to a comprehensive introduction of the issue of restitution in the context of natural history museums.

This event is part of a research seminar titled "Muséums et enjeux contemporains. Quels discours sur les collections d'histoire naturelle ?" From January to June 2025, this series brings different experts to Paris each month, with the purpose of discussing contemporary issues and challenges in the world of natural history collections. All sessions are open to the public and accessible through a hybrid format; the full programme of the seminar can be found on its website. The seminar couldn't be more timely as issues like the restitution of colonial loot, having risen to considerable prominence in recent years, are slowly but steadily arriving in the realm of natural history museums. Finally, people begin to call into question the reputation of natural history collections as apolitical, sterile, or lying outside social and political struggles. I've made some of these points in my TEDx talk and cannot wait to elaborate on them!