Objective
Museums did not arrive in Africa with colonialism; they already existed in other forms. Yet many debates on African cultural heritage still assume that the museum is a European invention, imposed through colonialism and thus unsuitable for the continent. REMAPP decisively challenges this paradigm. Drawing on scattered but compelling historical evidence, it stresses that Africa long possessed institutions and practices for collecting, preserving, displaying, and activating material culture. Though distinct from Western definitions of the “museum”, these fulfilled many of its core functions: representation, cultural memory, social cohesion, and object care. Designed to fundamentally reframe the history and definition of the museum, REMAPP shifts the point of departure away from Europe, opening new theoretical perspectives on the institution, which resonate globally and, not least, within Europe itself.
Building on this premise, REMAPP pursues three core objectives: (1) to re-examine written, visual and material sources (16th–19th c.) alongside African museum discourses (1960s–80s), in order to recover knowledge on past practices of object care in African societies; (2) to interrogate European epistemological frames that have shaped or distorted their interpretation, focusing on semantic shifts and regimes; (3) to introduce a conceptually ambitious, historically grounded contribution to contemporary and future museological thinking in Africa, Europe and beyond.
The project is shaped by philological rigour, epistemic plurality, and engagement with contemporary artistic and curatorial perspectives. Drawing on expertise from African and European contexts, the team integrates diverse linguistic, cultural, and methodological approaches into a shared rearticulation of knowledge. By foregrounding African histories and epistemologies of object care, REMAPP opens a new field of research at the intersection of heritage studies, museum history, and global intellectual history.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion philosophy epistemology
- humanities history and archaeology history
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
10623 Berlin
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.