No colonial collections without colonial involvement

Museums in the Czech Republic are undergoing an important discussion about the future of their collections, not only with regard to the display of objects, but also their return. This is most evident in the ethnographic museums, which are coping with demands for restitution from countries and areas that were colonised in the past. However, the position of the Czech Republic has to be seen in historical global connections, which is why we invited Walter Sauer, an expert on the colonial history of Austria from the Institute for Economic and Social History at the University of Vienna, to a lecture and subsequent discussion. The event is part of the cooperation between the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and the Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures. 

Which role did the Habsburg Monarchy play in European expansion overseas? For a long time, this question has been sidelined both by Austrian as well as international historiography. Only in recent years, researchers started to address the issue in a more or less systematic manner. The discourse is related to and benefitted from contemporary controversies around the restitution of ethnographic objects in museums and on persistent colonial imprints on society, culture and mentalities. Like other European countries, Austria intends to pass a law on how to deal with artworks and objects in federal museums acquired under colonial conditions. 

Univ. Prof. Walter Sauer, retired, is Senior Lecturer at the University of Vienna/Austria. His numerous publications deal with Austrian colonial history, perceptions of Africa and Africaness in arts and literature, and with historical and current developments in Southern Africa. 2022/2023 Member of the Austrian government's Advisory Committee to develop guidelines for collections acquired in colonial context. 

The lecture will be held in English.