Workshop Representing Violent Pasts: Museums, Colonialism and Environmental Degradation

On 10 April, the Memory & Heritage Network of Utrecht University and the ERC project Ecologies of Violence: Crimes Against Nature in the Contemporary Cultural Imagination (EcoViolence) are organizing a workshop on the representation of colonial and ecological violence in museums. This workshop is aimed at scholars and cultural practitioners (such as curators and museum educators) within the fields of cultural memory, museums and cultural heritage, who are working on or interested in the topic of ecological violence and its complex entanglements with other forms of violence – such as colonialism and genocide –, both in the past and in the present.

The workshop will start with a word of welcome by Dr Susanne Knittel and Dr. Gertjan Plets and a short presentation about two projects they are currently leading, respectively: Eco-Violence and Colonial Legacies of Universities: Materialities and New Collaborations (COLUMN).

The workshop includes presentations by curators and artists about recent exhibitions that address this topic. Confirmed speakers include: Myriam van der Hoek (curator of the history of science at the Allard Pierson museum) who will be offering a presentation about the recent exhibition “The call of the O’o: Nature under pressure” at the Allard Pierson; and Vincent van Velsen (head of exhibitions at the Eye Film museum) and Miguel Peres dos Santos (independent artist) on their exhibition-project Soengoe Kondre / Submerged Heritage that took place at the Nieuwe Instituut. The presentations will be followed by a moderated conversation and exchange with the rest of the group, wherein we will be discussing questions such as: what are the challenges when exhibiting topics like colonial or ecological violence?; what kinds of strategies (affective, discursive, etc.) are employed to generate impact amongst the visitors?; what kinds of materialities are used to tell these stories?; and how do the institutions themselves reflect on their implication in these histories? What kind of public and school programming is/was developed and how is the impact of such initiatives assessed? And what kinds of future collaborations between curators and scholars could be envisioned around this topic?

The complete programme will be shared soon.

The event will be followed by a reception.

Language: this event will be held in English

Registration and more information: to register and for more information, please email Sofia Lovegrove (s.lovegrovepereira@uu.nl). We have a maximum of 25 spots available so please register your attendance before 28 March 2025.