Call for papers for the workshop Koloniale Kontexte in Bibliotheken (Colonial Contexts in Libraries)

As early as 2021, the German Museums Association published its Leitfaden zum Umgang mit Sammlungsgut aus kolonialen Kontexten (Guidelines for the Care of Collections from Colonial Contexts), which rapidly became established as a reference document for museums dealing with colonial collections. In so doing, the German Museums Association was acting on a longstanding debate in society at large and in cultural heritage institutions by promoting the establishment of postcolonial provenance research in museums. Libraries hardly figure in the current debate, although the term “museums and collections” is used in most official documents, thereby including collections held by libraries. This is explicitly stated in the Eckpunktepapier zum Umgang mit Sammlungsgut aus kolonialen Kontexten von Bund und Ländern (positions paper on the handling of collections from colonial contexts issued by the federal and state governments) for example. What is more, the Deutsche Kulturrat (German Cultural Council) already indicates the importance of libraries in this connection. The dbv-Kommission Provenienzforschung und Provenienzerschließung (dbv commission on provenance research and provenance indexing) and the project Projekt IN_CONTEXT being pursued by the Berlin State Library, in cooperation with the German Lost Art Foundation, are taking this as an opportunity to look at how libraries deal with holdings from colonial contexts.

The aim of the workshop is to bring together actors from libraries, interest groups and research on this topic, present collections that are already known to be relevant, and do preliminary work on producing a guideline for the handling of colonial holdings in libraries. Accordingly, the workshop will consist of short talks (approx.15 mins each) and discussion rounds in order to initiate a debate on holdings from colonial contexts in German-language libraries.

The workshop will focus on two topics: holdings from colonial contexts in libraries (especially holdings from contexts of injustice, such as looting, etc.) and holdings that relate to colonialism (especially so-called reception literature). “Colonial contexts” are understood broadly here – according to the definition of the German Museums Association – and do not only include action in connection with direct or formal colonial rule. As such, the workshop will not focus on a single region or historical period.

Suggestions for contributions are very welcome. Please send an abstract (max. 2,000 characters, incl. spaces) and a brief CV stating your institutional affiliation by 15 June 2023 (in one file) to in_context@sbb.spk-berlin.de. Contributors will be selected by the end of June 2023. The workshop language is German. Contributions to the discussion are to be published online in 2024.

If you have any queries, please contact: in_context@sbb.spk-berlin.de

Responsible:
Michaela Scheibe, Department of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books, Berlin State Library
Larissa Schmid, Reader Services Department, Berlin State Library
Organisation: Regine Dehnel, Lars Müller, Friederike Willasch

For further information, see the PDF (German only):