CALL FOR PAPERS - REPATRIATION OF COLONIAL COLLECTIONS TO THE CARIBBEAN

The repatriation of colonial collections has been a longstanding demand of many communities and countries of origin. In recent years, some Western European nations have initiated steps to return these collections, often acquired through unequal power dynamics, looting, or other forms of involuntary dispossession, including items forcibly donated, sold, or obtained during “collecting expeditions". These collections include numerous material culture items and heritage objects originating from the Caribbean.   This special issue examines the theme of repatriation in the context of the Caribbean region, focusing on collections currently housed in Western Europe. Case studies will explore the relationship between these collections and countries such as The Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom.   For Caribbean communities, the return and/or (digital) accessibility of these diasporic colonial collections facilitates the reclamation of space within broader historical contexts, heritage, and memory landscapes. Given the interconnected nature of the region, the repatriation of colonial collections—and their digital access—holds significance for a wider area encompassing the Circum-Caribbean (French, Spanish, English, Dutch/Danish/US territories), including the US (formerly Danish) Virgin Islands, the Caribbean coasts of Latin and Central America, and the continental Caribbean (Belize, Guyana, French Guiana).-------------------------------------------- Guest Editor: Shani Roper-  University of the West Indies Museum.  Curator of the University of the West Indies Museum, Dr. Shani Roper specializes in the ethics of contemporary collecting, museum collections and development, museum education, and histories of trauma in Black-majority contexts. Trained as a social historian, she has published on Caribbean museums, poor relief, and Caribbean childhoods in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dr. Roper was part of a five-member team involved in the repatriation of the first natural history specimen—a 170-year-old extinct Jamaican Giant Galliwasp—from the University of Glasgow to the UWI, Jamaica. -------------------------------------------   Submission Deadlines: April 21, 2025   View full call in "Call of papers"