Tuesday 10 June, 6.30pm. Indonesian Embassy 30 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 2BU and simultaneously via Zoom.
The debate surrounding colonial collections in Western museums has developed in the past decade under pressure of former colonized nations, civil society and postcolonial diasporas.
Who gets to decide which artefacts are exhibited and which narratives are being foregrounded? How does restitution work and to whom are collections returned? And how to deal with ancestral remains in an ethical manner?
Using case studies from Indonesia as points of departure, this talk will engage with the role different stakeholders (governments, communities and diasporas) play.
Wim Manuhutu is a historian and heritage professional. As a director of the Moluccan Historical Museum (1987-2009) he curated exhibitions, did and commissioned research on Moluccan history, art and culture. At present he is a lecturer in political history at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Manuhutu’s research interests are: Indonesia, Maluku, colonial history, slavery, heritage.
Multiperspectivity and multidisciplinarity are guiding principles in his work.