Exposing the Dead. Human Remains on Display


Panel discussion
Thursday, May 19, 2022, 7:00 PM

Round table discussion

Exposing the Dead. Human Remains on Display

With Isabelle Reimann, Holger Stoecker, Liv Nilsson Stutz, Aleksei Yurchak. Chair: Frédéric Keck

Throughout human history, treating the deceased with dignity has often meant burying their bodies or otherwise hiding them from view. Yet time and again, some human corpses or parts thereof are put on display. This can be done both to honor and to dishonor the dead, and to warn or inspire the living. In the colonial era, European museums started collecting and displaying body parts in the name of science and medicine. What should museums do with such collections today? Should they always be restituted, and if so, to whom? Who has a claim to the dead? And do the dead have a claim on us?

The event will be held in English

Auftaktveranstaltung im Rahmen der internationalen Tagung “The Dignity of the Dead