On the 16th of September, Cristina Sá Valentim (ICS, Empires, Colonialism and Post-Colonial Societies Research Group) was one of the speakers invited to participate in the round table “Decolonization of Natural History collections: challenges and implications for museums” within the scope of the IHC Summer School 2022. The event took place at the University of Évora (Palácio do Vimioso), on the 16th and 17th of September 2022.
The IHC Summer School 2022 edition was dedicated to “issues such as the decolonization of museum collections, the repatriation of objects, but also the circulation of knowledge, meeting communities and their expectations, paving the way for a more inclusive future.” (See PROGRAM: PROGRAMA IHC-Summer-School-2022)
Based on her PhD research on the cokwe musical collections of the Museu do Dundo, produced by Diamang (former Diamond Company of Angola) during the 1950s-1960s, Cristina Sá Valentim was challenged to reflect on the possibilities of decolonizing museological musical collections and colonial sound archives, discussing the extent to which her work can contribute to the production of exhibition content that includes narratives that have been silenced and that are still absent in the institutional memory of museums.
Round table “Decolonization of Natural History Collections: Challenges and Implications for Museums”. Organization and moderation: Joana Lima (CHAM — NOVA FCSH). Maria do Mar Gago (IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST), Ana Godinho (MUHNAC — Universidade de Lisboa), Catarina Simões (MUHNAC — Universidade de Lisboa) and Cristina Sá Valentim (ICS — Universidade de Lisboa). Photo taken by the event organizers.
The IHC Summer School 2022 had the participation of several researchers, students, teachers, museum staff, as well as the intervention of three keynote speakers: Mark Thurner (University of London, FLACSO), Guido Gryseels (Royal Museum for Central Africa) and António Pinto Ribeiro (CES — Universidade de Coimbra).
ORGANIZATION: Instituto de História Contemporânea (IHC) — Pólo da Universidade de Évora
COORDINATION: Rita Luís, Elisabete Pereira e Quintino Lopes
EXECUTIVE COMISSION: Paula Gentil Santos, Liliana Caldeira, Maria Figueira, João Caia e Francisca Laevski