The programme for the International Symposium: Histories of Antropologia and Restitution, which takes place from 13 to 15 May 2026, is now available. This symposium will be held at NOVA FCSH and at the Museu Nacional de Etnologia, and will also feature an additional cultural programme, taking place on 13 and 16 May, at Cinemateca Portuguesa.
Organised by CRIA/IN2PAST and NOVA/FCSH, in coordination with BEROSE, the National Museum of Ethnology, and the Cinemateca Portuguesa, Museu do Cinema IP, the event aims to explore the intersections between the history of anthropology and restitution, taking into account the profound historical and contextual variations of the issue at hand. This symposium adopts the transatlantic – and in particular Latin American – perspective that characterises the International Research Network HITAL, (an International Research Network, with partnerships from France, Argentina, Bolívia, Brasil, Colômbia and Portugal), within the framework of which the event is taking place, together with the participation of the Working Group on Restitution and Reparation (Research Group “Practices and Policies of Culture”, CRIA/IN2PAST), coordinated by Francisca Alves Cardoso (CRIA NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST) and Laura Burocco (CRIA ISCTE-IUL/IN2PAST). Its partner institutions include the APA (Portuguese Association of Anthropology); Iscte-IUL; and CHOA – IUAES Commission on the History of Anthropology.
The programme includes presentations by guest speakers, debates, a performative intervention and several talks organised around three thematic lines (Reconstructions and Provenances | Archives in the Field or on Site? | From the Museum Object to the Space-Time of the Restored Subject). It also features a contribution from António Candeias (HERCULES/UÉvora), Chair of the Scientific Council of IN2PAST.
The Cinemateca Portuguesa is partnering with the International Symposium on Histories of Anthropology and Restitutions, as part of the PIONEER WOMEN OF PORTUGUESE CINEMA film series, with two special screenings: ‘Margot’ (2022), by Catarina Alves Costa, on 13 May at 9.30 pm, and ‘Filmes de Margot Dias’ on 16 May at 6 pm.
This international symposium aims to explore the intersections between anthropological histories and restitution through thematic strands that give rise to interrelated panels. Returning an icon of nation-building to a museum in an African capital is not the same as participating in the design (or the technological and financial sustainability) of a digital archive in the Australian Outback; citing the indexed article of a Native American researcher is not the same as seeking to listen to the present-day descendants of a mask-maker in a rural setting without electricity and, at first glance, disconnected from the debate. Given the profound historical and contextual variations of the issue at hand, we have opted for the transatlantic – and in particular Latin American – perspective that characterises the International Research Network HITAL. It is also a matter of shifting the focus of a debate which, at various stages, has placed significant international emphasis on Australian, North American and African contexts. The equation between restitution and reparation calls for particular emphasis to be placed on the latter when the memory of slavery is at stake – not only through, but also by means of, the restitution of museum objects and archival materials. With a particular focus on case studies situated in or between European and Latin American contexts, discussions concerning indigenous contexts are equally likely to open up reflection to other locations and other histories that have processes or ideas of restitution at their core.
Miguel Vale de Almeida (ISCTE-IUL, Portugal)
Sónia Vespeira de Almeida (CRIA NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST, Portugal)
Cristiana Bastos (ICS-UL, Portugal)
Yaid Ferley Bolanos Diaz (Universidad Nacional de Colombia,
Colômbia)
Lorena Cordoba (CONICET- UCA, Argentina)
Isabelle Combès (CIHA, Bolívia)
Stefania Capone (CNRS, IRL Mundos em transição CNRS/USP, Brasil e
França)
Nélia Dias (ISCTE-IUL / IN2PAST, Portugal)
Tonico Benites (Guarani Kaiowá) (Museu Nacional, UFRJ, Brasil)
Rodrigo Lacerda (CRIA NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST, Portugal)
Christine Laurière (CNRS, Héritages, França)
João Leal (CRIA NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST, Portugal)
Antonio Carlos de Souza Lima (PPGAS – Museu Nacional, UFRJ,
Brasil)
Willian Mavisoy Muchavisoy Universidade do Cauca, Colômbia
João Pacheco de Oliveira (PPGAS – Museu Nacional, UFRJ, Brasil)
Fernanda Arêas Peixoto (Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil)
Aura L. Reyes Gavilán Universidade de Antioquia, Colômbia
Susana Matos Viegas (ICS-UL, Portugal)
Diego Villar (IICS, CONICET- UCA, Argentina; CIHA, Bolívia)
Christine Laurière (CNRS / HERITAGES)
Frederico Delgado Rosa (CRIA NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)
Sónia Vespeira de Almeida (CRIA NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)
Rodrigo Lacerda (CRIA NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)