International launch of "Tracing Loot from the Boxer War in China. A Research Guide for Public and Private Collections"

We are pleased to invite you to the launch of our new publication Tracing Loot from the Boxer War in China. A Research Guide for Public and Private Collections.

The history of many museums is a history of colonial entanglements, also with China. During the so-called “Boxer War” (1900–1901), eight nations –Britain, France, the German Empire, the United States, Japan, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Italy – participated in the international military intervention against the anti-imperialist Yihetuan movement, in Western literature known as the “Boxers.” In the course of the war, countless works of art and cultural objects from private households, public institutions, and imperial collections were brought abroad — often as a result of violent appropriation and looting.

The critical examination of the colonial history of collecting is an important part of contemporary museum work. To facilitate the entry into provenance research on objects looted during the so-called "Boxer War" for interested stakeholders, museum professionals, and decision-makers, a research guide has been developed as part of the Sino-German project Traces of the ‘Boxer War’ in German Museum Collections – A Joint Approach. 

The research guide provides:

• a concise description of the “Boxer War” 
• an introduction into the places, actors, and mechanisms of the looting
• cases studies of objects in German collections
• practical advice for initiating provenance research
• an extensive appendix providing important research tools.

Join us on Wednesday, September 16 from 2-3 pm CET / 8-9 pm CST / 8-9 am EDT via Zoom for the international launch of this research guide by the authors and contributors (in English).

Register here!