The Colonial History of Natural History Collections and Their Legacies

Come to an in-person training day at the Natural History Museum, London, for a hands-on day learning about the colonial history of the museum's collections and their legacies. After an introduction from Dr Isabel Davis, Research Leader in Collections and Culture at the NHM, Techne researchers will tour the museum, exploring the mineralogy and the algae/fungi/plants collections, in the expert care of curators. Attendees will explore the foundations of the collection and how it has been updated over the years. Lunch will be provided, during which there will be chance to explore and discuss images of specimens, for example of a Borneo butterfly, a breadfruit specimen from Tahiti, pictures of two African monkeys.

Content warning: images of animals and of the First Fleet Collection of early encounters with Australian indigenous people may be shown.

After lunch there will be a panel talk with three short talks and discussion, possibly on the following: an overview from the research theme's perspectives; decolonial approaches to natural science collections; East African mammals. The day will end with a seminar based on prior reading and the day's events.