Journée d’étude "Des restes humains aux ancêtres. Présenter, représenter, dialoguer dans les musées" - MAAOA

To foster dialogue with a wide audience, the program will take the form of presentations, multi-voice contributions and round tables, during which community members, historians, museum professionals, researchers, artists, academics and experts will present the results of their work and share their reflections on the role of mediation in relation to the presence of ancestral human remains in museums.

This study day is part of the program of the working group "Collections and collectors of non-Western objects in the Mediterranean - EXOCMED," funded by the Provenance Mission of the French Museums Service and led by the TELEMMe laboratory - CNRS AMU and the MAAOA - Museums of the City of Marseille. It is also part of the HERA project - How to study / repatriate "artifacts" - ancestors? Supported by the Franco-German Research Fund for Provenance Research on Cultural Property from Sub-Saharan Africa - Centre Marc Bloch, the project’s main objective is to create an interdisciplinary network of researchers working on the history of collections of ancestral remains from Central and Southern Africa, with a particular focus on provenance research. The project involves two academic institutions in France and Germany (Inherit. Heritage in Transformation, Käte Hamburger Kolleg, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Marseille), two academic institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa (University of Kinshasa, University of the Western Cape) and has three main museum partners (Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin, Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité, and Musée d’Arts Africains, Océaniens, Amérindiens in Marseille). Experts from outside these institutions, from museums or universities in the two countries or from transnational institutions, are also involved. This reflection, carried out in dialogue with the communities concerned and/or their representatives, aims to question the ethics of the conservation, management and study of ancestral remains.

• No booking required: free admission, subject to availability
• Location: All presentations will take place in the Miroir Room - Centre de la Vieille Charité, at 2 rue de la Charité in Marseille.
• The study day will be filmed for later broadcast, notably on the YouTube channel of the museums of Marseille
• Languages: French and English - Headsets for translation will be available to the public.
• The program is currently being finalized

Presentation of the HERA program - Centre Marc Bloch

Workshop / study day
From Human Remains to Ancestors - Displaying · Representing · Fostering Dialogue in Museums
November 13, 2026 - Centre de la Vieille Charité Marseille
To foster dialogue with a wide audience, the program will take the form of presentations, multi-voice contributions and round tables, during which community members, historians, museum professionals, researchers, artists, academics and experts will present the results of their research and share their reflections on the role of mediation in relation to the presence of ancestral remains in museums.

This workshop (study day) is part of the program of the working group Collections and collectors of non-Western objects in the Mediterranean - EXOCMED, funded by the Provenance Mission of the French Museums Service and led by the TELEMMe laboratory - CNRS AMU and the MAAOA - Museums of the City of Marseille. It is also part of the HERA project - How to study / repatriate "artifacts" - ancestors? This project is supported by the Franco-German Research Fund for provenance research on objects from Sub-Saharan Africa in public institutions - Centre Marc Bloch. Its main objective is to create an interdisciplinary network of researchers working on the history of collections of ancestral remains from Central and Southern Africa, with a particular focus on provenance research.
The project brings together two academic institutions in France and Germany (Inherit. Heritage in Transformation, Käte Hamburger Kolleg, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Marseille), two academic institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa (University of Kinshasa, University of the Western Cape) and has three main museum partners (Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin, Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité, and Museum of African, Oceanian and Amerindian Arts in Marseille). Experts from outside these institutions, from museums or universities in the two countries or from transnational institutions, are also involved. This reflection, carried out in dialogue with the communities concerned and/or their representatives, aims to question the ethics of the conservation, management and study of ancestral remains.

• Hours: 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
• No booking required: free admission, subject to availability
• Location: All presentations will take place in the Miroir Room - Centre de la Vieille Charité, at 2 rue de la Charité in Marseille.
• Filmed for later broadcast, notably on the YouTube channel of the museums of Marseille
• Languages: French and English - Headsets for translation will be available to the public.
• The program is currently being finalized