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 discursive event considering the complex colonial histories 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 have two tours focussing on colonial history – one of gallery spaces and another behind the scenes in the historical herbarium. These tours will highlight example specimens and exhibits with complex colonial histories. Lunch will be provided, during which there will be a chance to explore and discuss images of specimens, for example a Tanzanian dinosaur bone, a Bornean butterfly, a Tahitian plant, a botanical drawing, and an African monkey. After lunch there will be a panel session with short research talks, which will focus on the colonial history of the museum and its collections and researchers' experience of undertaking and communicating that research. The day will end with a seminar based on prior reading and the examples gleaned from the tours, talks and examples shared. The final seminar offers to reflect on the day, exchange views, and bring multiple research perspectives to the present and future challenges brought by history.