Abstract

Based on the Mozambique context, this project aims to analyse the constitution of ethnographic collections and its museum institutionalization during the Portuguese colonial period, focusing on the Natural History Museum in Maputo and the National Museum of Ethnology in Nampula. On one hand, the purpose is to explore the historical evolution of the two museums and the institutional, epistemological and scientific frameworks of the ethnographic collections. On the other hand, the intention is to challenge monolithic conceptions of colonialism, analysing the practices of museums and the dynamics of production and circulation of knowledge between the colony and the metropole. The intention is also to explore the continuities and discontinuities of practices, discourses and representations along the colonial and postcolonial period. Based in an anthropological and historical approach, this project combines critical museum studies, history of science and colonial and postcolonial studies.

Team