Module I – Collections related to colonial contexts
Dates 2026
August 28 and 29 – September 4, 5, 25 and 26 – October 2 and 3 2026​
Teaching languages: French and English​​
Presentation
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Even though the Swiss Confederation did not create an empire, the practice of provenance research for property acquired in colonial contexts is necessary in Switzerland. From the seventeenth century onwards, individual Swiss men and women took part in colonisation and benefited from the colonial structures in place at the time. They served in the armed forces, were merchants for Indian companies, were involved in evangelisation missions or were entrepreneurs, as historians have shown since the 2000s. Many other goods acquired in colonial contexts arrive in Switzerland via the art market, subsequently acquired by these same Swiss men and women.
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Provenance research on objects acquired in colonial contexts has the particularity of studying their origin as well as their significance and cultural value within the source communities and with the people concerned, with whom the aim is to engage in dialogue while establishing equitable relations. In this context, it is also referred to as provenance research.
Purposes of module I
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At the end of the training, participants will have acquired knowledge about:
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the current state of provenance research in Switzerland concerning collections acquired in colonial contexts
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the approaches and methods relating to provenance research for property from colonial contexts
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the formal analysis of goods and sources as well as their critical treatment
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the historiography of colonialism in the Swiss context
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the Swiss Confederation and provenance research
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the decolonisation of museum practices
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the challenges and issues involved in critically rethinking the management and promotion of these collections in exhibition catalogues, sales catalogues and databases
Course programme – detailed programme to follow (subject to modification)
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August 28 2026 – Introduction to provenance research | Federal Office of Culture Projects
Dr. Thomas Schmutz (FR), co-founder of Lange & Schmutz Provenienzrecherchen GmbH (Biel/Bienne) et full professor at the Institute of Art History and Museology at the University of Neuchâtel (CH).
Dr. Claire Brizon (FR), art historian and museologist, research fellow at the MCAH (Lausanne) and project manager at Lange & Schmutz Provenienzrecherchen GmbH
Patricia Simon (FR), provenance researcher at the Naturmuseum in Winterthur (CH)
August 29 2026 – The multidisciplinary nature of provenance research
Intervenant-e à définir (FR), Project « Proche », AfricaMuseum, Tervuren (Belgium)
Isabel Garcia Gomez (FR), conservator-restorer at the Geneva Museum of Ethnography (CH)
September 4 2026 – Contextualizing provenance research
Intervenant-e à définir (ANG), « Sensitive datas », Völkerkundemuseum Zurich (CH)
Sébastien Magro (FR), consultant, journalist and lecturer, former editorial manager at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris (CH)
September 5 2026 – Visit to the Museum of Ethnography of Neuchâtel (Benin Initiative) and workshop
Dr. Julien Glauser (FR), curator at the Museum of Ethnography in Neuchâtel (CH)
Dr. Claire Brizon (FR)
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September 25 2026 – Illicit trafficking and legal issues
Dr. Béatrice Blandin (FR), curator of Archaeology, Musée d'art et d'histoire, Geneva (CH)
Dr. Anne Laure Bandle (FR), partner at Borel & Barbey and director of the Foundation for Art Law, Geneva (CH)
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September 26 2026 – Promoting research projects on provenance
Acacio Alisto (FR), archivist at the Archives cantonales vaudoises, Lausanne (CH)
Dr. Claire Brizon, Lisa Zanetti (Université de Genève), Prof. Placide Mumbembele and Richard Ntaka (Université de Kinshasa) (FR) Project
« Contextualiser et visibiliser le patrimoine congolais dans les musées vaudois (1903-1938) »
October 2 2026 – Return, repatriation and human remains
Corinne Toka Devilliers (FR), President of the Moliko Alet +Po Association
Dr. Claire Brizon (FR)
October 3 2026 – Exam | Conclusion
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