In its very conception, the museum as an institution functions as a symbol and social lever for the consolidation of the Eurocentric idea of “universal knowledge” production, while concurrently serving the purpose of “civilizing” the “Other”. With the liberation of African countries from colonial grip following World War II, and especially in the 1960s and 1970s, debates around decolonizing museums gained importance among the newly established international circles of museum professionals.

The murder of George Floyd not only sparked demonstrations in the United States and Europe but also fanned the flames of an already ongoing debate about colonialism. Therefore, the conference, which was postponed and then digitized due to Covid-19, had very good timing.[1] It aimed at, as Bettina Brockmeyer put it, bringing together research, arts, and civil society in analyzing colonial memory in Germany as well as in the rest of Europe and, importantly, the Global South.