en
25. June 2021

Dealing with slavery past Dealing with slavery past

International guests speak at a conference of the "Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies" at the University of Bonn

How does one deal with the past, especially with the issues of slavery and colonization and their legacies? The tensions that this question can trigger among different groups of actors became visible last year in the global "Black Lives Matter" movement resulting in the toppling of statues and monuments. A workshop hosted by the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn will approach the topic from an interdisciplinary and European perspective from June 30 to July 2. During the conference, not only international scholars but also museum experts and activists will talk.

Speke Hall, Liverpool
Speke Hall, Liverpool - This Tudor House of the Norris family has two historical connections to Atlantic Slavery. Richard Norris (1670-1730), tobacco and sugar merchant, was co-owner of the ship The Blessing which deported enslaved Africans to Barbados and Antigua in two voyages 1700 / 1701. It was bought by trader in and owner of enslaved Africans Richard Watt I (1724-1796) in 1795 and restored by Richard Watt V (1835-1865) with returns from the inherited Jamaican sugar estate. © Daviessimo - Wikimedia, Creative Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Speke_Hall,_Liverpool.jpg, Sharing under the same conditions 3.0 not ported
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Current debates show that the topics of identity, origin, slavery and colonial heritage remain of great public interest. Scholars observe a cultural heritage boom in which local, national, and global constructions of identity are intertwined with cultural tourism interests. Sites of memory of colonialism and slavery related with notions of accountability are a field of social conflicts.

Can scholarship on this topic be devoid of politics? Against the background of this question, the conference "Cultural Heritage and Slavery: Perspectives from Europe" is a special event. During the three-day event, not only scholars but also activists outside academia will be given space for their thoughts. Among others, André Delpuech, director of the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, will speak on July 1 at 6:30 p.m. about a necessary place of colonization and slavery in museums.

All presentations will take place digitally. Registrations are possible until the first day of the conference (June 30, 12 noon).

More information and registration: https://www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/events/upcoming-events/cultural-heritage-and-slavery-perspectives-from-europe

Jan Hörber
Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies at the University of Bonn
Event Coordinator
Email: events@dependency.uni-bonn.de
Phone: +49 228 73 62945