Permanent display
Closing soon
Colonial Traces – Collections in Context
30 Aug 2024 — 13 Jul 2025 at extract
· Zurich
Colonial Traces – Collections in Context is an exhibition at ETH Zurich running through 2024–2025 that turns a critical eye on the institution's own scientific collections.
The show invites visitors to consider how colonialism shaped the accumulation of knowledge and objects in European scientific institutions — and what responsibilities that legacy places on museums and universities today.
Through archival materials, specimens, instruments, and contextual displays, the exhibition traces the entangled histories of science and empire, prompting reflection on provenance, representation, and the ongoing work of decolonisation.
The show invites visitors to consider how colonialism shaped the accumulation of knowledge and objects in European scientific institutions — and what responsibilities that legacy places on museums and universities today.
Through archival materials, specimens, instruments, and contextual displays, the exhibition traces the entangled histories of science and empire, prompting reflection on provenance, representation, and the ongoing work of decolonisation.