Dealing with racist legacies in public space in Switzerland. The struggle around a racist wall painting in a public school

Keywords: cultural heritage, public space, BLM, colonialism. racism
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

In the context of debates about colonial legacies and efforts at decolonizing, museums search for new roles to fulfil and new stories to tell that break with their historic role in reproducing racism and in glorifying a colonialist past. This is also the case in countries that did not have colonies, such as Switzerland. This paper presents exploratory research on conflicts over racist and colonial heritage in public urban space in Swiss cities and the role museums are given in these conflicts. Museums are often considered as proper places for contested material heritage, as places where this material can be contextualised. The empirical case I build on is that of the Bern Historic Museum, which is one of the many players in the process of finding a solution to a contested racist painting in a schoolhouse in Bern. Ten years of contestation by anti-racist activist groups culminated in its vandalization. This case is exemplary for the role of public and institutional actors in dealing with this conflict and in addressing racist and colonial heritage. The theoretical framework from which I approach this empirical case draws on post/decolonial theory, urban geography, and peace and conflict studies.