International Conference: Reworking the Archives. Hans Himmelheber and African Art/ists
The research project undertaken jointly by the Museum Rietberg and the University of Zurich with funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) is drawing to a close after four and a half years. To mark its conclusion, an international conference is to be held with a focus on objects, images, and papers from the archive of the art anthropologist Hans Himmelheber. Academics and artists from Europe, Africa, and the United States will consider current topics ranging from the significance of African art within global art history, the restitution of cultural heritage to the (im)possibility of decolonization.
Program 13th April, 9am – 6.15pm
9 – 10.30am Panel 1 Introducing the SNF Project "Hans Himmelheber – African Art and Entangled Knowledge Production"
Presentation:
- Gesine Krüger and Michaela Oberhofer: How to Rework an Archive: Research – African Art/ists – Curating
- Anja Soldat: Power, Wealth and Beauty – On the traces of a Baoulé Himmelheber Crate
- Esther Tisa Francini: The Ethnographer as Art Trader and Collector
- Sina Jenny: Alaska (Photography) in the Archive
- Daniela Müller: Women Researchers and Women's Art in the Himmelheber Archive
Break
11am – 12.30pm Panel 2 Museum, Collections, Art History and Archives
Chair: Gesine Krüger
Presentation:
- Peter Probst: Under Suspicion: The Case of Hans Himmelheber
- Ciraj Rassool: Rethinking the museum and Reimagining Museumness
Break
2 – 4pm Panel 3 In the Spirit of the Experiment – New Approaches in African Art History
Chair: Michaela Oberhofer
Presentation:
- Zoë Strother: The Himmelheber Archive and the Museum Rietberg: Second Lives
- Eberhard Fischer: African Artists: 1935 and Thereafter
- Till Förster: The Rise and Fall of Senufo Art – A Decolonial Perspective
- Tobias Wendl: Hans Himmelheber and the Appearance of New Styles in West African Sculpture in mid-20th Century
Break
4.30 – 6pm Panel 4 Les routes de la restitution et de la coopération
Chair: Yacouba Konaté
Film Lumène de David Shongo, Conversation avec Anja Soldat et discussion: Suivre des traces, laisser des traces – Réflexions sur les recherches en Côte d'Ivoire
6pm Performance Désiré Amani
Venue: Vortragssaal, Park-Villa Rieter (Museum Rietberg, Seestrasse 110, 8002 Zurich)
Door opening (Vortragssaal): 30 minutes before the event starts
Duration: 9am – 6.15pm
Language: English and French
Space limited
Please note that separate registration is required for each day of the conference.
12th April
14th April: No registration is required
15th April
