Collecting practices in the nineteenth century not only reflect the development of archaeological and anthropological sciences, but are a mirror of the political and diplomatic relationships between Latin America and Europe. At a time of the consolidation of the nation-states, indigenous material culture held a particularly relevant place in the construction of representations of identity and ideas about ‘otherness’ on both sides of the Atlantic.

This symposium brings together scholars working on archival and object records to reconstruct the dialogic processes that helped to shape academic practices as well as museum collections as we known them today. We intend to foster a discussion that starts from the history of particular collections and challenges the one-sided notion that materials were collected in Latin America and knowledge was only produced in Europe. Instead, we want to ask: What are the hitherto unseen agencies of Latin American collectors and collections in the making of archaeological and anthropological sciences in museum settings? How is current research changing the grand narratives about the history of collecting?

American collectors and collections in the making of archaeological and anthropological sciences in museum settings? How is current research changing the grand narratives about the history of collecting?