“The Ethics of Collecting Artifacts: Research, Ownership, and Challenges of Understanding Knowledge Systems”
Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at 5:30 pm, Room 951 Schermerhorn Extension

By Ana Maria Theresa P. Labrador, PhD
Visiting Scholar
Department of Social and Cultural Analysis
New York University

Abstract:
“In recent years, repatriation has become a more compelling issue, brought about by rising consciousness and activism from members of source communities, driven by decolonial processes. Besides legal frameworks and ethical codes providing models for methods of returning material culture and human remains that were stolen, or taken due to punitive action, research, and ‘safekeeping’, there are also moral and spiritual reasons for doing so.

Presenting three case studies from recent events involving the U.S. and the Philippines that implicate reparative processes involving museum collections and military trophies, it has become apparent that restitution, repatriation, and reparation are particularly challenging for source communities, and the future of contested materials. Among them are fragments of human remains, church bells, and grave goods. I will end my talk with a discussion in which students could propose possible actions or how we may do reparative processes better.”