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The master class “Access to Contested Collections – Digital and Analog” of the Centre for Advanced Study Access to Cultural Goods in Digital Change, took place on 2–4 April 2025.

Topic

Over the past five years, museums have critically re-examined their collections and exhibitions. The focus has been on colonial entanglements, practices of appropriation, and Western-dominated narratives. These discussions have provided crucial insights and impetus for curatorial and museological work.

The master class offered an opportunity to explore, together with colleagues from museums and art institutions, how these insights can be sustainably integrated into collections, databases, and object management in an interdisciplinary environment. Discussions also focused on the new perspectives and challenges arising from digital access to sensitive collections. What different approaches are institutions taking, and what future measures can be derived from the knowledge gained?

The Centre for Advanced Study invited master’s and doctoral students, postdocs, and research trainees working at museums or art institutions who are engaged with collections with colonial backgrounds or artworks and artifacts with sensitive content.

The master class covered a wide range of topics, from collection histories to curatorial practices and ethical questions. Keynotes by Greta de León (The Americas Research Network, Mexico City), Yilmaz Dziewior (Museum Ludwig, Köln) and Mathilde Heitmann-Taillefer (Museum Folkwang, Essen) and others mapped the research field from an international perspective and provided inspiration for the group discussions. The invited participants presented their projects in brief introductions and prepared key questions for group discussion.

Subsequently, the group—comprising participants, museum professionals, and researchers from the Centre for Advanced Study — engaged in intensive consultation on strategies to further develop the individual projects. The discussions also reflected on aspects that can contribute to defining best practices, particularly regarding digital access methods to sensitive collections.

The master class provided an informal setting for networking and exchange with early-career researchers and experts in art history, museology, and curatorial practice. It is aimed at all those interested in an open and practice-oriented dialogue, seeking exchange beyond the formal framework of a traditional conference.

With contributions from:

• Anna Luise von Campe (Kunstmuseum Ahlen)
• Christina Danick (Museum Ostwall im Dortmunder U)
• Anke Dornbach (Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle/Saale)
• Yilmaz Dziewior (Museum Ludwig, Köln)
• Toulu Hassani (Köln)
• Mathilde Heitmann-Taillefer (Museum Folkwang, Essen)
• Uta Kuhl (Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig)
• Greta de León (The Americas Research Network, Mexico City)
• Tanja Pirsig-Marshall (LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster)
• Haleh Redjaian (Berlin)
• Lisa Marei Schmidt (Brücke-Museum, Berlin)
• Regina Selter (Museum Ostwall im Dortmunder U)

Scientific Organisation

Maria Engelskirchen, Ursula Frohne, Dorothea Schöne

Programme

Wednesday, 2 April 2025

02.00 pm
Begrüßung
Reinold Schmücker (Speaker of the Centre for Advanced Study “Access to Cultural Goods in Digital Change”)

02.15 pm
Whose Expression? Über den Umgang mit der Kunst der Brücke im kolonialen Kontext. Eine Reflexion
Lisa Marei Schmidt (Brücke-Museum)
Chair: Ursula Frohne (Co-Speaker of the Centre for Advanced Study “Access to Cultural Goods in Digital Change”)

03.15 pm
Coffee Break

1. Panel

Chair: Maria Engelskirchen (Centre for Advanced Study)

03.45 pm
Museum Collections from Kunstkammer to Digital Technologies: A Historical Perspective
Emily Teo (Forschungszentrum Gotha der Universität Erfurt)

04.30 pm
Leerstellen im Museum: Akzessionen und Deakzessionen am Linden-Museum in der Phase von 1945 bis 1973
Judith Zweck (Universität Tübingen | Linden-Museum Stuttgart)

05.15 pm
Exhibits in Perspective
Philine Pahnke (Kunsthaus Dahlem)

06.00 pm
Wine and Cheese

07.30 pm
Keynote
Beyond Representation: Rethinking Access, Ownership, and Responsibility in Museums
Greta de León (Senior Fellow of the Centre for Advanced Study | The Americas Research Network)
Chair: Dorothea Schöne (Senior Fellow of the Centre for Advanced Study | Kunsthaus Dahlem)

Thursday, 3 April 2025

09.00 am
Departure to Ahlen from the main entrance of the Philosophikum

10.30 am
Ausstellung „Konkrete Frauen“ im Kunstmuseum Ahlen
Begrüßung: Anna Luise von Campe
Gespräch mit den Künstlerinnen Toulu Hassani und Haleh Redjaian
Chair: Dorothea Schöne

12.30 pm
Return to Münster

01.30 pm
Lunch

2. Panel

Chair: Jolanda Saal (Centre for Advanced Study)

02.00 pm
Werke außereuropäischer Kulturen und die Kunst der Brücke in der Sammlung Rolf Horn. Arbeitsfelder und Forschungs- & Wissensstand
Uta Kuhl (Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Schloss Gottorf)

02.45 pm
Wessen Perspektive? Kuratorische Konzepte im Museum Ostwall – Sonderausstellungen
Christina Danick und Regina Selter (Museum Ostwall im Dortmunder U)

03.30 pm
Werke aus kolonialen Kontexten im Kunstmuseum. Aus dem Depot – und dann?
Anke Dornbach (Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle | Saale)

04.15 pm
Coffee Break

04.45 pm
Roundtable | Moderation: Dorothea Schöne

06.15 pm
Keynote
Sammlungskritische Vermittlung am Museum Folkwang
Mathilde Heitmann-Taillefer (Museum Folkwang)
Chair: Maria Engelskirchen

08.00 pm
Dinner

Friday, 4 April 2025

3. Panel

Chair: Josina Dehn (Centre for Advanced Study)

09.00 am
(Nicht) Vorhandene Sammlungen
Clara Niermann (Museum Ostwall im Dortmunder U)

09.45 am
Bild und Sitte. Zwischen Pornografie und sexueller Repräsentation im politisch wissenschaftlichen Diskurs von 1870 bis 1933
David Ludwig (Berlin)

10.30 am
Coffee Break

11.00 am
Welche Hürden gehen mit sensiblen Funden in kleinen Museen einher?
Anika Birker (Museum Neukölln)

11.45 am
„Dieses disparate Verzeichnis ist eine Biographie.“ Fragmentarische Zugänge zu Objektbiographien
Maria Engelskirchen

12.30 pm
Lunch

01.15 pm
Through the Mill: Otto Mueller
Tanja Pirsig-Marshall (LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur)
Chair: Ursula Frohne

02.15 pm
Keynote
Bild und Gegenbilder. Otto Mueller im Museum Ludwig
Yilmaz Dziewior (Museum Ludwig)
Chair: Ursula Frohne

03.30 pm
End of the masterclass