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1.5 Final Reflections and Future Considerations (Pt. 6)
The impact of our event Face to Face was more than I could have ever anticipated. As a group, we successfully responded to our project brief:
How might we tell the complex stories of the Skull Collection from a museological perspective while engaging seriously with decolonial thought and struggle?
What strategies can be employed to address knowledge and metadata gaps in small museums?
Initially, I felt that as a student on this course, the project needed to be a traditional curated exhibition, similar to that of the other GRP group. It was only as I began further research into the Skull Collection that I realised the following: a traditional exhibition is not the most appropriate avenue of representation for this collection, and that as curators we have the ability to curate things beyond exhibition spaces. This second discovery was very eye-opening for me and allowed me to better understand the work that would be expected of me when I graduate from the programme, and also instilled within myself the confidence that I could assemble an event of this magnitude. The highlights of working on this project, of which there were many, included:
Working closely with the curators of the Anatomical Museum, Malcolm MacCallum and Ruth Baxter.
Networking with our speakers and moderators, whose insight and advice was extremely helpful in developing career skills.
Delegating work and communicating effectively with my group!
Providing a sense of dignity and justice to the descendants currently resting within the Skull Collection.
However, the work is only just beginning in regards to the Skull Collection. For myself, Face to Face was a catalyst from which further justice work can be undertaken. For example, conversations have begun with the University’s rector about providing greater support to the museum in order to facilitate meaningful repatriation projects and care for the collection. Our group is currently working on a text for a memorial plaque which will go inside the Skull Room as a means of telling the stories of the individuals within, and ensuring that their pasts are not forgotten. Our alternative labels from Face to Face: The Hidden Histories will remain on display in the museum, and we hope to create more official labels for the displays as well as a self-guided tour map for visitors to use when visiting for the first time.
Interior drawing of the Skull Room by group member Jude Joseph.
The artwork at the top of this blog post is by ECA student, Lucy Keegan. Lucy’s illustration perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere and context of the day. This artwork, as well as photographs and presentation recordings are currently in the process of being uploaded onto the Anatomy Museum’s webpage for everyone to view. Working with the Skull Collection has been incredibly challenging yet ultimately one of the greatest experiences of my academic career. Facing these complicated histories could be emotionally-tolling at times, yet was necessary in order to address the deeply systemic and racist motives for collection by the University from the 18th-20th centuries. Decolonising our museums is an ongoing issue worldwide, and requires the dedicated work of individuals, such as our speakers and curators from Face to Face, in order to ignite real change.
I often reminded myself of a quote from my favourite author, Maya Angelou, while collaborating on this project, which perfectly embodies the work we have done:
“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” -Maya Angelou
During the first semester of the course, our group began to brainstorm what our project would look like and how we can create something that pays respect and dignifies the descendants held within the collection. It was clear from the beginning that a traditional exhibition would not be a suitable format for the project. Given the sensitivities surrounding the display of human remains, we were torn between creating a digital exhibition which focused more on the provenance of the collection, or to host a symposium-style event. After presenting our ideas to our peers and the curators of the Anatomical Museum in November, we landed on the idea of hosting an event which would focus on passing over the microphone to specialist speakers from a variety of backgrounds in order to foster constructive and meaningful discussion.
Creating a title was relatively easy for our group. I sent in a proposed title of Face to Face: A Dialogue on the University of Edinburgh’s Skull Collection, and we all agreed this best embodied the purpose of our event. We immediately began work to establish which speakers and moderators would be attending the event, as well as creating marketing material which would be shared both within the university and at nearby partner institutions. Originally our event was scheduled for the 15th March 2023 inside the Anatomy Lecture Theatre. Unfortunately, the UCU strike action persisted longer than we anticipated, and our event had to be cancelled due to this. Having already advertised the event across campus, and secured a great list of speakers, we were very disheartened as a group when we heard the news of the strike impacting our event. Very quickly we reached out to our speakers to figure out which alternative dates they could make. Luckily, three out of four speakers were free the 29th March 2023. Our fourth speaker, Dr. Marenka Thompson-Odlum from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, was sadly unable to attend in person following the event date change. Luckily, Marenka provided the group with a pre-recorded talk, therefore ensuring her participation on the day virtually.
Updated event poster following the date change.
Back on track for our event on the 29th of March, we began to plan what the actual day would look like. As a group we determined that our speakers would be paired off based on research interests, and would take part in a discussion panel following their presentations. In the middle of the day we planned for a tour of the Anatomical Museum and a creative workshop entitled ‘Museum of Me.’ We re-sent invites to everyone on our guest list, and also ensured that those who had purchased tickets on EventBrite were aware of the date change. What could have been a major roadblock for the project turned into a valuable learning experience for everyone. We were forced to work under pressure with the change in date, and had to ensure everyone was kept up to date on all communications. The marketing material was re-drafted numerous times, but luckily was promoted widely by the Edinburgh College of Art, Anatomical Museum, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, the National Museum of Scotland and Surgeon’s Hall to name a few. This work brought the GRP group closer together, and our event really began to take shape at this stage of the project.
From the onset of the project I was very passionate about creating a survey for our audience which we could then use to evaluate both the event itself as well as the knowledge gained from our project. It was clear that many members of the public, including university students and staff, were unaware of the existence of the Skull Collection, or even the Anatomical Museum. As a previous undergraduate of the university, I had only learned about both the collection and the museum through my MScR programme, and wanted to bridge this gap in knowledge for others.
After drafting and editing a survey, I created eleven questions for our audience members to respond to on the day of the event. Half of these would ask about their knowledge on a topic before attending, and then to review their knowledge afterwards. Additionally, there was a free response section which asked for suggestions on what should be done with the Skull Collection moving forward, as well as ways in which we could have improved the event.
The primary areas I was looking for increases in knowledge were surrounding the Skull Collection itself, decolonial museum practice and the illegal acquisition of human remains by the University. The data showed that for all three areas, audience understanding was relatively low prior to the event. Following the event, we see massive increases in knowledge on each topic area. In total we received 48 responses on our survey with the following result:
Sample survey graph which charts audience knowledge on the Skull Collection prior to the event.
Following the event, audience members on average showed great improvement in knowledge regarding the collection.
As a group, our targeted audience members were university staff and students. We wanted to ensure that the Anatomical Museum and the Skull Collection was made as widely accessible as possible across the university. Through online and in person promotion on campus, we successfully had 50 people attend our event, with students making up the largest demographic.
Sample graph which details the type of audience members in attendance.
Of those in attendance, the following disciplines made up the majority: History, Art History and Community Members. This was expected, and we were pleased to see a high turnout from local community groups who had a personal connection to the collection. The free response questions were as follows:
How could this event have been improved?
What should happen to the Skull Collection in the future?
For the first question the following answers were most commonly seen: changing or removing the creative workshop component (audience struggled to see the connection to the event), better audio in the lecture theatre and an extended period of time for the museum tour. Regarding the collection itself, a majority of the answers called for greater funding to the museum so that repatriation efforts could move forward. Overall, the survey data was extremely helpful in helping us understand the impact of the event and will be passed along to the curators of the Anatomical Museum moving forward.
After an entire semester of planning and a difficult date change, it was finally time for our event Face to Face: A Dialogue on the University of Edinburgh’s Skull Collection on March 29th from 1-4pm. As a group, we arrived at the Anatomy Lecture Theatre at 12pm on the day to begin set up, including testing out the microphones and recording devices, ensuring we had tables for teas and coffees, and presenting each speaker’s slides onto the big screen. We had a minor panic when we realised that the Arabic translation of our event handout had not been sent through in time for the event. Luckily, after some phone calls, we managed to get the final translation and proceeded to print copies of this on the day for any Arabic-speakers in the audience.
Getting set up before the event.
The Arabic translation of our event handout.
As our audience began to filter in, I helped our volunteers set up at various spots throughout the venue. Everything on the day went without a hitch! All of the microphones worked, our recordings were clear and the presentations were displayed properly. Our first two speakers were Zaki El-Salahi and Dr. Marenka Thompson-Odlum. Zaki’s presentation: From 1898 to Now: Sudan, Scotland & Omdurman Shaheed Skulls paired excellently with Marenka’s talk on the Labelling Matters project occurring at The Pitt Rivers Museum. Although Marenka was unable to take part in the live discussion, Zaki received thought-provoking questions which concerned themselves with the acquisition of these skulls and future plans for repatriation. Following these talks was a break for the creative workshop and tour of the Anatomical Museum.
I was involved with the tour of the museum and taking part in the discussion titled Face to Face: The Hidden Histories. As a group, we wanted to actively connect the museum tour to the rest of the event, and were aware for many that not seeing the skulls could possibly be difficult to understand. To overcome this, I created an alternate label for the infant and fetal remains which are currently on display in the museum. This label covered issues surrounding consent and identity, and was followed by a brief presentation by myself on the ethics of displaying these remains. The talk went incredibly well, and was followed up by fruitful discussion with the audience members. Following the tour, our groups swapped before heading back into the lecture theatre for the final presentations.
Label created for Face to Face: The Hidden Histories.
The museum tour group beginning with an introduction to the museum in the Elephant Foyer.
Our final presentations were by Nicole Anderson and Dr. Tobias Houlton. Nicole presented on her current PhD work surrounding provenance research within the Skull Collection, and Tobias discussed how craniofacial reconstruction can be an active mode of justice work when dealing with difficult collections. We had a great live discussion following these two talks, and were relieved the hard part was now over! Following the presentations the rector of the University of Edinburgh, Deborah Kayembe, gave some closing remarks. Her speech was incredibly powerful and emotional and has ignited a genuine desire for change from an institutional level (listen here)
After the event we hosted a small reception within the Elephant Foyer next door. It was a wonderful opportunity to chat with our speakers on how the day went, and also to receive feedback from our audience. I was interviewed alongside one of the museum curators, Malcolm MacCallum for a scientific journal which was a new experience for me! I spoke about my enjoyment of working with the collection and the museum curators, and discussed how these skills will help me later in my career. Overall it was a wonderful day and the feedback we received afterwards was very positive!
1.5 Working with the South American Skull Collection (Pt. 3)
As a part of our project brief, we were asked the following question: what strategies can beemployed to address knowledge and metadata gaps in small museums? To address this problem we began work in Semester 1 with Ruth Pollitt, one of the curators of the Anatomical Museum. Over the course of the semester, we met with Ruth biweekly to catalogue and further research the skulls in the South American collection of the Skull Room. This work included basic cleaning, photography and measuring of the skulls, followed by research into the phrenological catalogues and museum catalogues to try and find further information on each individual. This information was then compiled onto an online spreadsheet which allows for researchers on the collection to easily access the most up to date and accurate information regarding the South American collection.
Page from a phrenological catalogue which details information on the acquisition/origin of the South American skulls.
This experience was incredibly insightful to the development of our final project delivery. Seeing how the museum works, and what type of research is currently being undertaken by curators helped me to better understand the importance of meaningful and careful curation. Each skull was handled incredibly carefully, and Ruth was always nearby to provide us with support or to answer any questions which we may have had. The final two sessions with Ruth I chose to focus my time on further researching the origins of a young adult from Peru, whose skull had ended up in the museum’s collection but had little to no information to corroborate its provenance. The only information available for this particular skull was a catalogue entry which described the individual as being Peruvian in origin, from the Chincha Islands, and the word guano followed after this. After some initial research, I quickly discovered that guano was fertiliser created from seabird excrement. After chatting with Ruth about this, I began digging deeper into why this individual would have this associated with their skull and how this relates to the Anatomical Museum in Edinburgh.
The only available information I could find online was a newspaper article from the later 19th century which discussed the import of guano into the Port of Leith here in Edinburgh. The article stated that often times human and animal remains could be found within large shipments of the fertiliser. While it is difficult to say with certainty, it is possible that the young adult from Peru was discovered within the contents of a guano shipment to Edinburgh and was donated to the museum. The Chincha Islands, where the skull was described as originating from, were the largest exporter of guano to the United Kingdom in the 19th century.
Photograph of seabirds on the southernmost Chincha Island in Peru, 1907. (National Museum of American History [Online]).
Unfortunately, I hit a wall with my research and was unable to find any additional information which could tell me more about the life of this individual and why they ended up in the Skull Collection. Ruth explained that this is typical when handling material of this age, and which was collected with derogatory and racial motives. From this, I was able to better understand the realities of working in a small museum, and the frustrations which arise when trying to provide dignity to the individuals within the collection. My time working with the South American Skull Collection was incredibly meaningful and impactful for me. I had a desire to provide a glimmer of justice to this young adult from Peru, but was met with challenges in finding accurate information regarding the acquisition of the skull itself. Nonetheless, the information I could compile was successfully added to the working spreadsheet which Ruth had begun, and will hopefully be of use to researchers moving forward.
1.5 Creating a List of Speakers and Moderators (Pt. 2)
Once it was determined that our response to the project brief would take shape as a symposium-style event, it was crucial that we began researching individuals who would be suitable speakers and moderators for the event. Having consulted with Malcolm MacCallum, one of the curators of the Anatomical Museum, he shared with us the work currently being done between the museum and The Sudanese Community in Edinburgh, which was led by researcher Zaki El-Salahi. As a group, we were eager for Zaki to take part in our event, and organised a meeting with him at the start of Semester 2. At the meeting we learned about the work Zaki was currently undertaking, which centred primarily on active justice work regarding the two Sudanese skulls currently residing within the collection. Following on from this meeting and having secured Zaki’s presence at the event, we reached out to Nicole Anderson. Nicole is a current PhD student researching the provenance of the indigenous first nation’s people represented in the collection.
In order to create a well-rounded event, we needed to secure two additional speakers who could approach the collection from a scientific viewpoint and from a museological one. We reached out to Dr. Tobias Houlton from The University of Dundee, who is a lecturer in forensic art and craniofacial identification. After meeting online in January, Tobias expressed great interest in participating in our event, and even had experience in using the Skull Collection for his own teachings in anthropological facial reconstruction. As a group, we struggled to identify a suitable fourth speaker who could approach the collection from a museological perspective. This was a crucial aspect of the event, as we needed to address the part of our project brief which required us to engage seriously with decolonial thought and struggle within the museum setting. Dr. Lizzie Swarbrick, a career fellow at the University who graciously dedicated her time to assisting the group throughout the year, suggested Dr. Marenka Thompson-Odlum as our fourth and final speaker.
Marenka currently works at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, and is involved with the Labelling Matters Project, which seeks to address the outdated and derogatory texts accompanying many of the museum’s displays. Understandably, she had a very busy schedule and we only had the chance to meet once before the event. Originally planning to deliver her presentation in person, the change in our event date meant that Marenka had to share a pre-recorded talk and could no longer attend on the day. Nonetheless, her presentation was incredibly thought-provoking and assessed some of the labels currently on display within the Anatomical Museum.
Speaker and moderator biographies as seen on the event-day hand out for Face to Face.
The final piece of the puzzle was ensuring we had two moderators on the day who could help facilitate conversation, keep time of the presentations and to read out live-questions from our audience. Gaia Duberti, a current PhD student working with the collection and also an alumni of our MScR programme was extremly helpful the entire year in providing us with accurate information regarding the Skull Collection, and was for us a perfect fit as moderator. Our second choice was our programme director, Dr. Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani. Maryam’s research focusses on the postcolonial histories of Black-British art in Britain and beyond. Together, our 6 speakers and moderators perfectly embodied the work that is currently being undertaken within institutional museums in order to promote greater respect, justice and dignity for those within its collections.
Provenance research is a crucial framework used by museums, galleries and libraries to establish the full history of an object. At the most basic level, provenance relates to the origin of an object, its ownership and exchanges over time as well as the authenticity it may or may not have (Keessen, 2022, p. 118). One of the most well-researched and current examples of modern provenance research relates to Nazi-era looted art and artefacts. Under the National Socialist regime, artwork which was considered degenerate, Jewish or unaligned with the ideals of the Third Reich was confiscated and often times destroyed. Where artworks were not immediately destroyed, they were transported across Europe into various holding points. It is estimated that 650,000 works of art were looted during the Nazi era, with only 100,000 currently accounted for (Karrels, 2014, p. 297). Stolen from institutions and individual families and communities, the rampage of looting which was undertaken by the Nazis remains an ongoing effort within heritage institutions today, many of whom possess stolen art unbeknownst to them. In order to rectify this, museums and galleries are undertaking detailed provenance research in order to return stolen art to descendants of its previous owners, as well as to provide a more detailed narrative to its visiting audiences.
The Monuments Men retrieving Edward Manet’s ‘In The Conservatory’ from a salt mine in Central Germany. (Harvard Magazine , 2010, [Online]).
The guidelines established for the restitution of Nazi-era looted art are internationally known, and can be applied in the same way to the collection of human remains as seen within the University of Edinburgh’s Skull Collection. In 1998, The Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets was held as the first conference which approached the prospect of restitution of Nazi looted art and artefacts within institutions worldwide. The core principles adopted at the conference state that heritage institutions should be actively reviewing their possession of artworks and artefacts with unknown origins or histories of Nazi ownership. Should an institution be in possession of stolen art, it is legally responsible to return the items to their rightful owners or heirs. If restitution is not possible, then a suitable solution is to be found, such as returning an item to its country of origin or purchasing it for its current valued price (Heuberger, 2022, p. 159).
Two years after the conference, the Lost Art Database was established as a digital platform which allowed for institutions across the globe to upload information on objects they believed to have been stolen during the Nazi regime. A second, public database was released just last year titled the Nazi-Era Provenance Internet Portal. Over 100 museums have uploaded material to the portal, allowing for the public to not only understand the extent of material which was stolen by the Nazis, but also to potentially reunited works of art to living descendants (Wechsler & Ledbetter, 2004, p. 61).
Provenance research is not unique to works of art alone. Both human and artefact remains can benefit greatly from enhanced research into their origins, use and history. Considering the use of provenance research within the Skull Collection, it is clear to see how this work has the potential to bring justice to modern descendant communities. In collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, Vedda elders and Max Plank Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, genetic testing was undertaken on the remains of a Vedda skull within the collection. The testing confirmed previous provenance research on the skull which suggested the Vedda community thrived off of a nutritional diet provided by the game in the local forests. Today, the modern Vedda are facing legal repercussions for their ancestral hunting practices, and the provenance research undertaken on the skull helps to corroborate their need for a continuation of traditional hunting technologies (The University of Edinburgh, 2021, [Online]).
Another current example of the importance of provenance research within the Skull Collection is the unification of two Sudanese descendants to members of their modern community. These skulls from Omdurman, Sudan, were only extensively researched in 2021 by Daisy Chamberlain. Chamberlain’s research discovered that the skulls belonged to individuals who resisted the British invasion of Sudan, and were eventually murdered and brought to Edinburgh by Henry Wellcome. These individuals are connected to modern descendant communities within Edinburgh today, including The Sudanese Community in Edinburgh, which is led by one of our event’s speakers, Zaki El-Salahi. When we undertake meaningful and careful research into the origins of an individual, we have the potential to reunite them with not only their communities, but also their families. While the repatriation of these skulls is still in consideration, the starting point for unification has been achieved through the successes of its provenance research. Thinking back to the use of this framework in Nazi-looted art and artefacts, it is clear to see the significance of this kind of work in regards to enacting justice and providing closure to affected individuals and groups.
Installation image from the exhibition ‘Afterlives’ at The Jewish Museum in New York City. The exhibition traces the histories of Nazi-looted art and brings forward untold Jewish narratives from the Second World War. (The Jewish Museum [Online]).
Unfortunately, it was not until the late 20th century that provenance research into Nazi-era looted art was taken seriously. It is crucial that we learn from the work that has been undertaken before us, and enact change through purposeful research as soon as possible. Two major roadblocks affected the research and return of Nazi-era artwork to its rightful owners: language barriers and a decline in the population of Holocaust survivors (Fuhrmeister & Hopp, 2019, pp. 224-226). Although many of the individuals within the Skull Collection date to the height of the British Empire in the 19th century, they are still deeply connected to many communities living in the area and abroad today.
The catalogues held within the Anatomical Museum which detail the acquisition of these skulls are written entirely in English, making it difficult for descendant communities to be involved with the research being undertaken. Moving forward, greater involvement with the affected communities needs to take place in order to secure a more well-rounded history of an individual. At our event, Face to Face, we translated our event handout into Arabic so as to assimilate information to the relevant groups in attendance, yet we recognise this is just one small step that needs to be taken in this field of work.
The involvement of the general public in the Lost Art Database project helped to bridge gaps in knowledge regarding Nazi-era looted art, and therefore held the potential to reunite stolen objects to their owners, or at least to signify an understanding of the objects origin when displaying it within a gallery space. We can pull from the provenance research done in this field of Nazi-era looted art and apply it to our focus on the Skull Collection by actively involving descendant communities to assist in the research and also by opening up information on the collection to the general public. The impact of theft and looting, whether from colonial Britain or Nazi-era Europe, continues to deeply impact descendants living today, therefore making the need for meaningful provenance research a cornerstone in our work as curators.
Bibliography
Fuhrmeister, C. & Hopp, M. 2019. Rethinking Provenance Research. Getty Research Journal. 11 (1), 213–231.
Harvard Magazine. 2010. The Art Army: Harvard’s Monuments Men at War. [Online]. [Accessed 2 April 2023]. Available from: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2010/01/monuments-men-rescuing-art-stolen-by-nazis
Heuberger, R. 2022. Provenance Research, Memory Culture, and the Futurity of Archives: Three Essential Resources for Researching the Nazi Past. Judaica Librarianship. 22 (22), 159–172.
The Jewish Museum. 2021. Afterlives: Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art. [Online
Karrels, N. 2014. Renewing Nazi-Era Provenance Research Efforts: Case Studies and Recommendations. Museum Management and Curatorship. 29 (4), 297–310.
Keesen, S. 2022. The Role of Museums and Public Collections Institutions in Conducting Provenance Research of Nazi Looted Art of Jewish Ownership. Online Journal Modelling the New Europe. (40), 117–130.
The University of Edinburgh. 2021. A Skull Collection Revisited: From Colonial Resistance to Repatriation. [Online]. [Accessed 2 April 2023]. Available from: https://exhibitions.ed.ac.uk/exhibitions/mind-shift/colonial-resistance-to-repatriation
