Indigeneities in the 21st century
Eighteen years after the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, Indigenous stakeholders act as global players in arenas such as the UN Convention on Climate Change, the Dakota Access pipeline in the USA, and the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. Yet, until the 1960s, anthropological inquiries considered the same people as ‘vanishing’ and doomed to disappear.
The so-called Indigenous renaissance presents a remarkable phenomenon of late (post)modernity. How can this surprising process be understood and explained? The objective of this project is to study how Indigenous actors evolved from ‘vanishing people’ to global players. The project is located at the disciplinary intersections between anthropology, art, history, philosophy, and politics; and aims at making a future-oriented contribution to (re)emerging Indigeneities and the (re)negotiation of their (post)colonial legacies in and with Europe.
Blog
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02 Sep 2025 | Noelle M.K.Y. Kahanu & Nicholas Thomas
In conversation with the curators of "Fault Lines" (Part 1/4): Noelle M.K.Y. Kahanu
The members of the curatorial collective share personal insights into the exhibition project and their individual approaches.
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14 Aug 2025 | IndiGen news
Watch the trailer for ¿Tao'a? here!
The docu-fiction film explores the changing meaning of Rapanui wooden sculptures. The trailer is now available online.
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07 Jul 2025 | Erika de Vivo
Tracing Sámi lives: A critical look at Florence’s ethnological collections
An ancient building in Florence bears witness to the intricate relationship between Italy and Sápmi – the land of the Sámi people.