Research Center for Material Culture

19/10/2026

PUBLIC EVENT | 'Reparations - A Dialogue of Decency' | Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam | 13 November, 2026

Cowrie Atlantic has invited Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, to give a keynote lecture on ‘Reparations: A Dialogue of Decency’ at Pakhuis de Zwijger. He makes the historical, economic and legal case for decolonisation and reparative justice as a constructive path to global justice. Following the keynote, Sir Beckless is joined by, Dr. Nozizwe Dube and Prof. Dr. Wayne Modest, for a dialogue on what genuine repair requires.

Tickets and registration via: https://dezwijger.nl/programma/reparations-a-dialogue-of-decency

19/10/2026

ART OF INDIGENOUS SKATEBOARDING | Meer dan tricks en stunts. 🛹 Hoe gebruiken Inheemse kunstenaars en skateboardgemeenschappen het skateboard om hun cultuur, verhalen en verbondenheid met land uit te drukken? Vanaf 20 november in Wereldmuseum Rotterdam.

Deze tentoonstelling is georganiseerd door Wereldmuseum in samenwerking met het Autry Museum of the American West.

30/09/2026

Artist Talk | September 30, 2026 | 17.00 - 18.30 | Greenroom, Wereldmuseum Rotterdam

nora chipaumire makes work and creates ideas that straddle multiple imaginaries — African, black, woman. A life lived through aesthetics informed by refusal, defiance, negotiation, contradictions and more. These refusals take form of movement, objects, non objects, manifestos, sound and building a pedagogical practice (nhaka) that works the present now with the present past.

ARTIST TALK | During this artist talk on september 30, nora chipaumire reflects on her artistic practice, from her debut film Afro Promo #1 Kinglady (2016) to Gadzi (2026), her latest installation commissioned by Tate in London.

Her work explores resistance, freedom, identity and the connection to land. Gadzi is a “living and breathing organism”, handmade from materials inspired by the legends, stones and soil of her native Zimbabwe.

The artist talk is moderated by Jay Pather and takes place in collaboration with Afrovibes, as part of this year’s soil | soul theme.

🕔 16:45–18:30
🎟️ Free with a museum ticket. Reservation required via https://ow.ly/Ugg150ZL8gA

28/09/2026

SYMPOSIUM | October 29th-30th | Studio, Wereldmuseum Amsterdam

The Research Center for Material Culture, in collaboration with Professor Carlos Garrido Castellano and Beatriz Dantas Vieira (University College Cork and ARTFICTIONS Project, Ireland) are pleased to be organizing the international two-day symposium entitled “The Grammar of Reparation: A Creative and Research Symposium.”

Photo credit: Slavs and Tatars, Qatalogue, 2018, woolen yarn, 190 × 180 cm. Photo Jens Ferchland.

04/09/2026

ARTIST TALK | Op 24 september verwelkomen we kunstenaar Roberta Stoddart bij Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, ter gelegenheid van de opening van Leef Surrealisme.

Stoddart vertelt over het maakproces van Sleepwalkers, een indrukwekkend werk dat dit jaar is aangekocht door Wereldmuseum en centraal staat in de tentoonstelling. Daarna volgt een gesprek met Wayne Modest en ruimte voor vragen uit het publiek.

Je ticket geeft je ook gratis toegang tot Leef Surrealisme vóór de artist talk.

📍 Wereldmuseum Rotterdam
🗓️ 24 september
🕟 Inloop 16.30 uur | Start 17.00 uur
ℹ️De voertaal is Engels

Boek je gratis ticket via https://ow.ly/bkGh50ZHAJF

04/09/2026

In connection to the opening of Leef Surrealisme, the Wereldmuseum is pleased to invite Roberta Stoddart for a public artist talk on September 24th at Wereldmuseum Rotterdam. During this talk, Stoddart will give us an insight into the making of her impressive work titled Sleepwalkers (2009–2017), which plays a central role in the exhibition and has been acquired this year by the Wereldmuseum.

*Please note that registration for this event guarantees a free entry ticket to visit the exhibition Leef Surrealisme on September 24th, before the talk begins.

Book your tickets via https://ow.ly/X2x850ZHAJG

04/09/2026

13/05/2026

SYMPOSIUM | Another Gathering: The Beauty We Inherit on May 20

What does it mean to be in the wake of absence? Until its restitution in November 2025, "Ama O Ghe Ehen", a 18th-century bronze plaque depicting a mudfish, was held in the Museum de Fundatie's collection since its acquisition in 1937.

On May 20 The Research Center for Material Culture at Wereldmuseum and Museum de Fundatie explore the process and implications of this return, and what restitution might mean in the context of this plaque.

Join us for a day of conversations, lectures, screenings, sonic interventions, and performances.

📍May 20 | 9:30 - 17:30 | Wereldmuseum Leiden
🎟️ Free registration via: https://ow.ly/wsOr50YVxKj

Photo: Ama O Ghe Ehen (Fish Plaque), 18th Century, Brass (bronze), 43 x 18 cm. Court of the Oba of Benin, Nigeria. Courtesy of the NCMM, on behalf of the Oba of Benin. Photograph by Martijn Schmidt.

06/05/2026

REIMAGINING THE ARCHIVE | What happens if we reimagine the practice of art history as a form of world making, using archival research alongside imaginative thinking?

The Research Center for Material Culture at the Wereldmuseum, in close collaboration with the Radboud University Nijmegen and Wereldlab, invites Shola von Reinhold, Satch Hoyt, Eunsong Kim and Carine Zaayman for the programme Making Worlds: Reimagining the Archive.

Making Worlds is a continuing collaborative programme between Wereldlab and Radboud University, featuring presentations, conversations, and performances by artists and scholars who are animated by the problems and possibilities of the archive—a space of collection and categorisation shaped by coloniality.

📍Waalhalla Centrum: Winselingseweg 12, 6541 AK Nijmegen
📅May 22. 15:00 – 17:45 PM
🎟️Register for free via: https://ow.ly/1QM550YRK4r

28/03/2026

ARTIST TALK | Rogue Agents of History on April 24

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam and the Research Center for Material Culture welcome artists Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind for an artist talk in direct connection with the opening of the exhibition Rogue Agents of History.

During this talk, Sansour and Lind be will in conversation with the curator of the exhibition Nat Muller. Their conversation will focus on the central themes and questions that arise from the exhibition and the newly commissioned film A Sunken Tale of Losses Delayed.

🎟️Book your free tickets via: https://ow.ly/CNZO50YwWfl

ON ROGUE AGENTS OF HISTORY

Rogue Agents of History is the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands by acclaimed Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour. She works primarily with film, photography, and installation. Central to her work is the interplay between myth, documentary and historical narrative, often explored through the lens of science fiction.