Nicola Groß
Shortbio
- seit 2022 Kollegiatin am DFG-Graduiertenkolleg 2227 „Identität und Erbe“, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
- 2020 Auslandsstudium an der Aarhus Universitet/DNK
- 2018–2022 Master Kunstgeschichte, Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn. Thema der Masterarbeit: „Utimut. Der Umgang des Dänischen Nationalmuseums mit kolonialem Sammlungsgut am Beispiel des grönländischen Rückführungsprojektes (1982–2001) und im Kontext aktueller musealer Dekolonisierungs-Debatten“ bei Prof. Dr. Christoph Zuschlag und Jun.-Prof. Dr. Ulrike Saß am Lehrstuhl „Provenienzforschung und Geschichte des Sammelns“
- 2012–2017 Bachelor Kunstgeschichte und Vergleichende Literatur und Kulturwissenschaften, Rheinische-Friedrich Wilhelms Universität Bonn
Contact
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Fakultät Architektur und Urbanistik
DFG-Graduiertenkolleg 2227 „Identität und Erbe“
D-99421 Weimar
Sitz: Marienstraße 9 | D-99423 Weimar
nicola.gross[at]uni-weimar.de
From cultural heritage to national identity. Cross-cultural restitution practices in Scandinavian national museums.
National museums are a continuous part of the history and remembrance culture of nations and are therefore actively involved in the construction of national self-image. At the same time, they contribute to reflecting on the cultural heritage of nations. In Scandinavia, these connections between the material environment (construction of national museums and cultural heritage) and the social negotiation of collective national identity and nationalisms can be understood in an exemplary manner:
On the one hand, in the early 19th century, against the background of geopolitical demonstrations of imperialism’s geopolitical superiority and the emergence of European nation states, cultural heritage from internal colonies and thus “from their own country” was constantly appropriated by Scandinavian nation states and translocated to national museums. A sovereignty of interpretation developed over this heritage, which stood in conscious delimitation and exaltation to the colonized indigenous cultures of Scandinavia (“othering”).
On the other hand, from the second half of the 20th century, cultural heritage was increasingly restituted to the original indigenous population of the Kalaallit and Sami. In particular, the loss of cultural heritage and the associated loss of identity for indigenous communities of heirs were cited as central elements in claims for restitution and in the struggle for the recognition of one’s own narratives of the past and identity.
The dissertation project examines the influence of restitution as a central component of social identity formation processes within the institution of the national museum. The aim is to pursue the question of how indigenous and national identity constructs are mobilized in the areas of tension between appropriation and return, loss and regain as well as cultural assimilation and re-indigenization for different history and identity politics in Scandinavian national museums and how they are (re)constructed, changed or were interrupted until today. One research focus is the repatriation processes themselves, which were linked to western, neo-colonial standards and preconditions for indigenous communities in the context of nation-building and capacity-building processes.
In this way, the so far undesired research complex about cultural heritage restitution and indigenous original populations within Europe (Scandinavian / European Natives) as well as their postcolonial perspectives should be made visible.Perhaps solutions for the current discourse in society as a whole, in which the handling of cultural heritage from colonial contexts as a result of trauma and conflicts is processed and renegotiated in museums, cultural diplomacy and international law, can be produced.
Current Publications
„Brücken bauen: Der dänisch-grönländische Utimut-Prozess (1982–2001) als Erfolgsbeispiel bilateraler Restitutionsbestrebungen“, in: transfer – Zeitschrift für Provenienzforschung & Sammlungsgeschichte (2022) [im Druck].