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Events

‘time to reflect’ …. ‘tremendously rewarding’ … ‘I’ve come away with lots of ideas for doing things back at work’

The Museum Ethnographers Group runs a lively and affordable programme of events for its members with a focus on continual professional development. Recent events have included visits to exhibitions at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge and the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, a training day in undertaking collections research using family and local history resources, a workshop about curating human remains in UK museums and a visit to the Museum of World Cultures (Världskulturmuseet) in Gothenburg, Sweden.

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We are pleased to announce that the next MEG event will be a visit to the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium. Members are invited to join us in Brussels from Thursday 6th – Sunday 9th February 2020.

exterieur Jo Van de VyverKMMA

The main focus of the trip will be a visit to the Royal Museum for Central Africa on Friday 7th February. The day’s programme will include a guided tour of the new galleries, speaking to staff about current curatorial decision making, the museum’s work with source and local BME communities, and a Q&A session. The day will finish with a teatime group discussion and reflection on the visit.

Saturday plans are TBC depending on numbers and members preferences, options are self-guided museum visits to Brussels and Antwerp museums or a guided tour of a preferred museum.

Members will be responsible for booking their own transport and accommodation, but suggested transport arrival and accommodation will be provided including airBnB sharing options to help keep the cost down. There will also be networking opportunities on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at selected pubs and restaurants. We hope this trip will provide members with a bit of time out from busy schedules, to get together with peers to share and reflect on current practices and future aspirations.

Proposed itinerary:

Travel to Brussels Thursday 6th

Visit Africa Museum Friday 7th

Explore Brussells and/or Antwerp Museums Saturday 8th

Travel home Sunday 9th

If you are interested in attending or finding out more please email Rachel at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Image provided courtesy of Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium

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MEG event.1 18.07.19 sml

Below are notes taken on the day by Rachel Heminway Hurst - MEG welcomes responses to this account.

Attended by 18 MEG members and 3 members of staff from Derby Museums

  • Welcome by Tony Butler, Director, Derby Museums and Art Gallery

Helen Mears, Keeper of World Art at Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove introduced the Repatriation and Restitution workshop by setting the scene and outlining the main current reports and initiatives from UK and Europe ( see refs on the workshop agenda doc).

Notes on HMs presentation

  • The debate is currently dominated by some nationals and remarks by representatives such as Tristian Hunt have not been positive or forward thinking.
  • Laura Philips remarked that the official stance taken by the British Museum is not reflective of the thinking or work undertaken by most BM staff.
  • Many EU countries are showing a willingness to remove obstacles and actively engage with and progress the debate.
  • Contrary to the UK national perspective, the structure of regional museums means they can be more active and less constrained and there is an opportunity here for regionals to engage and be proactive.
  • But how do we set priorities for this work?
  • Collections Management and documentation are important in addressing the debate, also sharing knowledge and transparency are vital as is sharing and recognizing what we don't know.
  • Provenance research needs to be undertaken, but how do we resource this work, where do find the funding and who needs to involved and how do we share this information?
  • It is essential that we collaborate with international partners and diaspora communities.
  • We need to have a bigger understanding about moral and ethical concerns, not just focus on illegality, looking at the ‘colonial context’ in a broader sense and an understanding of inequality, not just Imperial conflicts.
  • Issues about repatriating to a state versus restitution to a community.

MGs doc from 2000 feels very out of date and limited, ACE working group to update this document, HM in this working group, keen to hear from and feedback in regional perspectives.

Tony Eccles, World Cultures Curator, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter

Tony shared case studies about three repatriation and restitution projects that he and his predecessors initiated and undertook.

  • The repatriation of shell necklaces to Tasmania and human remains to Australia in the 1990s, process was long and slow, working with the Local Authority and High Commissions in Australia and Tasmania.
  • These projects were huge learning curves for world art staff and museum management, and building trust and having clear provenance for objects were crucial to the success of the relationship and successful returns.
  • TE initiated the restitution of cultural material back to the Blackfoot community from North America. The act of restitution and repatriation is healing for and very important to these communities.
  • Honesty in our practice and provenance, telling the stories of donors and collections and their histories honestly. The importance of language used when interpreting objects. Ie. Choosing the work ‘plundered’ on an object label to best describe how the object from Benin found its way to the museum collection.

Inbal Livne, Head of Collections and Engagement, Powell Cotton Museum

Inbal shared her thinking in how to embed a new proactive approach on repatriation and restitution into her organization.

  • Not just public statements and actions, embedded in our orgs, feeding these ideas into policy statements, past collecting policy was ‘we will take anything that is world art’, deaccessioning, toolkits all say we should offer objects first to the UK? Why not go internationally if more relevant, why not doing this, so Inbal is pursuing this, 1963 object exchange with Uganda, Kampala Museum, happened so can we do again? So need to rewrite their policies accordingly, is this repatriation or museum exchange? Kampala is actively collection material from all over Africa.
  • Uganda link as PCs son was Commissioner in Uganda & PC spend lots of time there in 1902, so already have link and history. Working with other curators important who have relationships ie.Julie Hudson with Kampala relationship.
  • Need to find source of funding for this, as not expecting the museum they approach to pay for.
  • Why are not approaching international museums who also have professionalism, commitment to engaging with communities etc.
  • Small museums have opportunities to do exciting things that are relevant, not bound by national protocol etc, this provides us with opportunities to be innovative and embrace new practice.
  • Powell Cotton has more freedom than local authority. New generation of councilors more understanding of decolonization agenda starting to see the benefits for reputation & status.
  • Institutions making commitments to each other on equal footing, not just individuals who have passion, need commitment.
  • MEG role - sharing and plotting relationships that we can share across institutions and countries.
  • Sharing partners and expertise.

Group Discussion

  • Esme Fairburn funding disposal project for Derby &Derbyshire ex schools handling collection, large collection including African and other world art material. funding a disposal project, MA supportive of this. Case study of what you can do with this sort of collection.
  • MA conversation with Buxton Museum staff, disposals.
  • MAC project overview from Nicola -project looks at how decolonisation efforts are playing out in three different museums, reflecting on where we are at, opportunities and limits of the three organisations. Building relationships key international partners, a lot of provenance to be done, but not be al and end all, who does that provenance research ie. not just white researchers!!!
  • Long process but also increasing urgency that we need to respond to.
  • 12 months - response from Dutch museums pledge so do they have a good plan in place?
  • We need case studies and map of how to do this work. Map out a process.
  • Barriers -costs, governance.
  • ACE working group need to set up principles first before map, process.
  • New provenance research post at Horniman, diaspora communities and Africa museums.
  • In the UK should be look at Consortia bids, pooling resources for this.
  • Different ways of working with communities and diasporas needed and different focus.
  • Arts council - project grants - could be a consortium of museums to do this, maybe MEG or SSN consortium opportunity or Regions getting together.
  • Mapping exercise about what is going on -and sharing repatriation claim information, role for MEG

 Beatrice Blackwood British Columbia 1925 Copyright Pitt Rivers MuseumTo celebrate International Women’s Day, MEG members are invited to the following FREE event.

A guided tour of the exhibition ‘Intrepid Women, fieldwork in action,1910 and 1957’.

11am – 2pm on Friday 8th March, at Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.

The tour and Q&A session afterwards will be led by the exhibition curators Julia Nicholson and Zena McGreevy. There will also be the opportunity to carry on conversations and network with other MEG members over lunch, we have a room booked, but lunch will not be provided so you are invited to bring a sandwich with you.

If you would like to attend this event, please email me to reserve a place at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Information about the exhibition

This exhibition focuses on six of the Pitt Rivers Museum’s most important female collectors and their fieldwork carried out between 1910 and the late 1950s. It is a unique opportunity to see objects and photographs resulting from their travels, as well as original archival material and film on display for the first time.

Why intrepid? The six ‘intrepid women’ featured in this exhibition undertook ground-breaking fieldwork between 1910 and 1957. All defied conventions for women: some graduated as Oxford-trained anthropologists in a male-dominated academic discipline; all travelled into places ‘ladies’ didn’t go; all lived with people from very different cultures to learn from them. These women were leaders in different ways. Some survived physical hardships in their research: one was nearly thrown overboard on a sea journey and another ventured into literally uncharged parts of New Guinea. One was Māori and became an extraordinary cross-cultural ambassador. Some found that marriage ended their professional career, and one decided against marriage to have a career. All faced significant prejudice from male colleagues, and had difficulty getting the same professional positions and funding that men would have.

For more information on the exhibition and collectors featured please visit: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/event/intrepid-women

Maggie Makereti Papukura 1943 Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum

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