Decolonising Nias Ethnographic Collection Across Europe: Issues and Possibilities

This poster aims to explore the existence of the Nias Island ethnography collection in European museums and its current state in the contemporary context. The main focus of this article is the Nias collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology of Florence (Italy). Known as a brave warrior and a complex culture, Ono Niha (Nias People) has enchanted European scholars since their exploration of the Indonesia Archipelago. Many visited the island of Nias to learn about the Nias people, including the Florentine Elio Modigliani. The repeated expedition has brought many Nias collections overseas, which are now being kept as part of museum collections abroad. 

However, as happened with other 'indigenous' collections, the Nias collection often detached from its community of origin and needed to be more accurately portrayed. The recent movements in decolonisation and the agenda of repatriation in recent decades have become the perfect vehicle for us to revisit this collection and how it should be managed in the current social and cultural climate. In this poster, the author provides a glimpse of the challenges and opportunities faced within collaborative projects for attempting to share narratives and digital returns of the Nias collection to the community of origin.