The “Research Perspectives on the Black European Archive: Materialities, Medialities, Aesthetics” workshop brought together around 30 participants from over ten countries and multiple disciplines, including researchers, archivists, cultural practitioners, and activists. Professor Julia Borst (professor of Romance Studies and Principal Investigator of the ERC Starting Grant AFROEUROPECYBERSPACE, University of Bremen), Dr. Francesca Aiuti (University of Macerata), as well as Dr. Sandra Folie and Dr. Gianna Zocco (Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research, Berlin) organized the event. Held at the Herrenhausen Palace in Hannover at the end of February, the event was funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.
The workshop drew connections between the expanding field of Afro-European and African European Studies — focused on African and Afro-European history — with the real-world challenges of archival practice. “European archives mainly contain sources that depict African and Afro-European history from a Western, colonial perspective,” reports Julia Borst on the discussions in Hannover. Sources that reflect the perspectives of Black people are often marginalized – or preserved only in community-led archives, which are frequently underfunded. Historical sources are often difficult to access and are frequently accompanied by problematic metadata that perpetuates colonial power imbalances.
However, the digital age has given rise to new knowledge repositories beyond traditional archives, including websites, blogs, and social media platforms. These sources are more accessible and enable active participation, allowing diverse voices to contribute to the collective understanding of history. The workshop also examined literature and art as vital forms of archiving and conveying knowledge and history beyond conventional archival methods. At the same time, the event addressed questions of epistemic justice and the positionality of researchers working with Black European archives. A critical discussion emerged about ownership of knowledge in these archives, and how research into them must constantly engage in self-reflection regarding issues of epistemic appropriation and justice.
Participants shared insights on these challenges and emerging developments. The goal was to create a transnational space for the exchange of ideas between academic research, institutional archival practice, and community-driven initiatives.
Contact:
Julia Borst
Faculty of Linguistics and Literary Studies
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-68424
Email: borstprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
