Could rocks and samples held in geological collections, their associated histories and related indigenous worldviews help us all begin to understand more fully our relationships with the land and our planet, our past and global future, our cultural and natural heritage?
Black Lives Matter and the fall of the Colston Statue in Bristol have rekindled discussions about colonial legacies in museums, collections, educational and scientific institutions and foregrounded questions about cultural ownership and repatriation.
The return of natural history and geological specimens (soil, rock, sand, minerals, and fossils) has so far been overlooked or excluded from repatriation discussions or practices in the UK. The focus is on man-made objects in ethnographic and archaeological collections that hold a perceived cultural, artistic, spiritual or even financial value (e.g. return of the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, human remains to Native North Americans or the Euphronios Krater to Italy).
This project’s key research interests are situated in the reconsideration of the cultural, spiritual and community importance of rocks using a particular example from Aotearoa, New Zealand). Based on the Brigstow Ideas Exchange project ‘How do we ethically decolonise a rock and mineral collection’ the project will consider and explore:
–How a rock is seen and held within cultural stories (esp Māori)
–How complex and animate relations with land in other cultures and diverse worldviews inform the collecting, storage and potential return of geological samples currently held by institutions in the global north.
-Why natural objects (rock samples) in contrast to cultural objects are often excluded from discussions of repatriation in the UK even though there is historic (and modern) evidence in our European/Western cultures of humans attributing spiritual and cultural meaning to geological samples.
-What best practice might look like in the future with regard to acquiring rock samples and the practicalities of returning rocks from the UK to Aotearoa and how this research can be shared with other institutions (museums, archives, universities).
The co-creating team consists of academics, professionals and artists who have an identified shared interest in how human beings connect with land from an anthropological, historic, scientific, creative and community point of view.
The project will offer an opportunity to work together creatively and collaboratively across the disciplines of art, humanities and science and will use creative practices (poetry and illustration) to facilitate interdisciplinary discussions about the movement of rocks (including soil, minerals, gems) between cultures and countries. Illustrations remove linguistic barriers. Poems and the poetic imagination invigorate research practice and bring in necessary questions of what languages are being used and the need for translation. Poems are a means of communication in many cultures and particularly relevant to our case study as Māori culture frequently uses karakia (prayer) to increase the spiritual goodwill of a gathering, so as to increase the likelihood of a favourable outcome.
The team are interested in early-stage research related to how geological collections can spark questions, feelings and curiosity about how rocks are viewed in different cultures and how different stories, languages and practices can strengthen relationships with the land. The need to create respectful and meaningful connections with the ground we stand on is imperative in a time of climate crisis. Climate change and pressures on natural resources, colonial legacies and social injustice contribute to eco and social anxiety. Could rocks and samples held in geological collections, their associated histories and related indigenous worldviews help us all begin to understand more fully our relationships with the land and our planet, our past and global future, our cultural and natural heritage?
Researchers
Claudia Hildebrandt Technical Specialist, School of Earth Sciences
Alyson Hallett Prize winning poet and writer
Edie Woolf Bristol based illustrator
Dr Lucy Donkin Senior lecturer in History and History of Art, Department of History of Art (Historical Studies)
Professor Fiona Jordan Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology
For more details please look at the Brigstow Institute project page.