I The symposia wi!! take place shortly after the return of the I bones to Namibia. The bones are due to return this year, but M SPECIAL PROJECTS 1/5

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1 ~c M SPECAL PROJECTS L~~'''',n_.'Lroo'"",,"''''M'-'''.'''' "L~,.,.,:»0 ~''''''O "''' '','CJO'''.''~,.,'. "'''''<e,... ''' ll APPLCATON FORM 2011 NAME OF THE COMMTTEE / REGONAL ALLANCE COM Namibia TTLE OF THE PROJECT BRiEF OVERViEW Bringing them Home: A symposia on the issues surrounding the return of human remains from a museum in Germany to Namibia. ~ TOTAL BUDGET OF THE PROJECT To be confirmed. AMOUNT SUGGESTED TO BE FUNDED BY COM ARE OTHER PARTS OF COM'S NErvVORK NVOlVED N THS PROPOSAL? F YES, PLEASE DENTFY 4,629 Euros lour colleagues at the University of Cologne wiil be contacting icom Germany. THE PROJECT LEADER Dr Jeremy Silvester, Chairperson, COM Namibia Please indicote his/her role within COM TME FRAME FOR THE PROJECT The symposia wi!! take place shortly after the return of the bones to Namibia. The bones are due to return this year, but funding perhaps we could, at least, obtain copies of the COM Code of Ethics to use in the Symposia. MULTPLE APPLCATONS BYTHE SAME COMMTTEE Please indicate the order of priority the exact date is stili being finalised by the Governments of Germany and Namibia. We realise that we do not yet have the required financial details, but want to inform COM about this initiative as Ne believe that if COM could agree to be partner on the planned symposia it could help to raise the profile-of COM's Code of Ethics. f \AJeare not able to secure Our application for marketing materials for our museums is lour first priority. This application is our second priority. vve think it is an important project and would provide an opportunity to promote rcom's Code of Ethics. However, we i are stiii finaiising the budget and proposed dates for the 1/5

2 workshop. COMMllTEE REG!ONAl Person submitting the Application ALLANCE NFORMATON ~:;;~ ~::'::::'comm'ttee / Region"A"n,e] Complete address: PO Box 147, Windhoek, Tei.: Namibia Fax.: silvestj@iway.na SGNATURE Please make sure the application form is complete. f it is not, it will not be able to be forwarded to the Advisory Committee Peer Jury. The request needs to be signed by at least two members of the Board, including the Chairperson. D( ()e('~~ Slgna~::?n\~ NO'LsK'\e" -:C1U\~dq :S= Dateofther::' See program description sheet for eiigibiiity (additional sheets may be used to a 1 PAGE MAXMUM} -.( ,,,",e 1 DESCRPTON OF THE PROJECT. (Chcu:r ~) [Name! Position] [~Jame/Po5ition].. Snve...~ \J zs" February, ( se.&'eto tu \ ---1) 2011 PROJECT DESCRPTON A collection of human remains that were held at Das Berliner iviedizinhistorische Museum der Charite in Germany are due to be returned to Namibia in The skeletons are believed to be those of African prisoners who were contained in concentration camps, particularly at Swakopmund and LOderitz during the war during the German colonial period. The return will be the latest in a series of high profile events which have seen European museums return human remains to Southern Africa, such as the remains of E! Negro of Banvoles returned from Spain to Botswana in 2000 and those of Sarah Baartman from France to South Africa in However; whilst in these previous cases the remains were buried there have been some traditional authorities in Namibia who have advocated that the remains from Germany should be displayed in a new museum in Namibia. The symposium will provide the opportunity for a significant debate to take place in Africa about the issue of human remains in museums and to use COM's Code of Ethics and 2/5

3 the experience of a number of international practioners to the current debate in Namibia and the eventual fate of the bones. The fact that a number of skeletons were collected from Namibia for the South African Museum (see 'Skeletons in the Cupboard' by Ciraj Rassool and Martin Legassick) means that the concerns are not limited to a critical appraisal of collections in European museums. The symposium will also provide an opportunity for affected communities and African museum workers and academics to inform '...e- wa"-y::. in "'h'-h engage with the international museum community and the "fr,'can. bodv, is tn.. WU W t.. the M...~ d,'sp1avpd., - exhibitions. HOW S THS PROJECT LNKED TO COM STRATEGC PLAN (please be specific) Strategic Objective 1 (3) states that icom should be involved provocative contemporary issues through interaction with non-traditional partners". Under 1 (4) a particular emphasis is placed on building partnerships in in ".,. exploring Africa and the workshop would be held in partnership with the SADC Heritage Association and the Museums Association of Namibia. Fina!!y under Strategic Objective 2 (2) emphasis is placed on raising the profile and application of!com's Code of Ethics; whilst 2 (3) stresses that 'symposia' can be a useful tool to achieve this goal. LANGUAGES USED English. ANTCPATED RESULTS A publication providing an overview of the politics surrounding the return of human remains in the southern African context with particular reference to the practical application of COM's Code of Ethics. The regional dimension of the workshop will also help to promote the development of a regional alliance for Southern Africa between workers in the heritage sector and could, possibly, be combined with the launch of the SADC Heritage Association. The workshop will involve key decision-makers from the heritage sector in Namibia and will, therefore, provide an excellent opportunity to promote COM as a partner in heritage development. 3/5

4 ADD'fONAlNFORMATON ON THE PROJECT BUDGET [in Euros only] To be confirmed. Funding from Germany is being sourced to cover the cost of participants from Europe. NCOME COM will not support 100% of the Request to COM : costs, therefore Committees are encouraged to identifv' additional We would like COM to provide support to enable a member funding from other sources. of icom to participate in the Workshop who could provide an overview of the COM Code of Ethics and its particular relevance to this case. We would also like COM to support the participation of COM members from Botswana and South Africa who could provide ~ comparative experiences. Other income: [Please indicate which amounts are confirmed] To be confirmed. n-kind support from the app!icant{s}: The Executive Committee of the Museums Association of Namibia has given its support to the symposia and wiii provide administrative support in kind. TOTAL NCOME EXPENDTURE TOTAL EXPENDTURE RESULT (must be balanced) 4/5

5 ADDTONAL Flt"At"CAL NFORMATON The Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sports and Culture has been briefed about the initiative. We would like to provide COM with a project update in early April. DEADLNE FOR SUBMTNG THE 25 February 2011 DcnU:C::T nl"c,_...,' SEND TO Direction Administration et Finance de 'COr,,1 Maison de 'UNESCO, 1 rue Miollls, Paris (France) SupportToTheNetwork@icom.museum 5/5