This term refers to historical artifacts and collections that “are linked to processes of extreme violence and traumatic memories related to slavery, colonial regimes, genocides, and wars.” These types of heritage, the report warns, tell stories about a past shared by many countries, “which implies international collaborations capable of involving all interested parties,” especially former colonies.
The Rectorate of the University of Coimbra acknowledges it as “a first step,” with innovative approaches, “which may allow UC to take a leadership role in this debate in Portugal and internationally,” according to a press office response sent by email.
Another action “proposes formulating and institutionally adopting a declaration of principles from UC on the matter [of sensitive heritage].” The second point aims to “include the decolonization of UC among the goals of its strategic plan,” a process the working group assumes will be complex and lengthy.
The “sensitive heritage” group was formed a year ago within the university in an informal, ad hoc way, with the goal of discussing the future of assets originating from Portugal’s former colonies and producing a document to deliver to the rector.
Coordinated by architectural historian Walter Rossa, who holds the UNESCO Chair in Intercultural Dialogue in Portuguese Influence Heritage, the group also includes historians Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo, Luísa Trindade, Hugo Dores, and Joana Brites; biologists António Gouveia and Pedro Casaleiro; anthropologists Cláudia Umbelino and Cristina Valentim; ecologist Helena Freitas; General Library director Manuel Portela; and architect Marcela Santana—all academics from Coimbra.
The coordinator of the now-dissolved ad hoc group acknowledges that the document was intended to launch a collective process, with the hope that the University of Coimbra would be the first to approve an official document on the matter. “The document acts like a trigger within the university. For me, all the actions were necessary, but it’s very likely that some will be reconfigured, priorities will be set, and new actions will arise,” he explained to PÚBLICO.
Among the actions, many involve promoting research in the field or developing curricula. Others, however, may prove more controversial within the university—such as the recommendation to “evaluate and debate” the creation of the Cabinet of Curiosities, opened in 2022 at the Science Museum, which recreates the atmosphere of a predecessor to modern museums, blending items from very different origins, including human remains from former colonies and taxidermied animals.
More consensual will likely be the move to “initiate the resolution of the issue of the skull collection from Timor”—the most controversial collection of human remains resulting from decapitations, held by the university. The Department of Life Sciences, which houses 29 skulls, has already begun discussions on their possible repatriation to Timor-Leste.
The working group also recommends that, similar to what has been done in other countries, “a specific legislative framework be created to facilitate the restitution of colonial heritage, establishing procedures and authorization criteria.” Although there is currently no legal impediment, the coordinator highlights the challenges that could arise when authorization is needed—for instance, to send skulls back to Timor. “Who has the authority to sign the document? The university? The government? Legally, who has the final say on the matter?” asks Walter Rossa.
Among Portuguese universities, the group highlights more sector-specific large-scale projects in Évora (TRANSMAT, Transnational Materialities; KNOW.AFRICA, Knowledge Networks in 19th-century Africa) and in Porto (DE-HED, Decolonising Higher Education)—all funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology. None of them, however, aim to engage the entire university as the current plan at Coimbra does.
The working group emphasizes that the University of Coimbra was, until the establishment of the Republic in 1910, “the only Portuguese university” and “the only one within a vast colonial empire.” Therefore, the university, which educated the elites of both the first and last Portuguese colonial empires, “has the ethical and scientific duty to be at the forefront of this debate” and “serve as a reference for best practices,” as stated in the document’s preamble.
The group does not provide a number of items in its care that could fall under the category of “sensitive heritage.” “It’s far too uncertain and premature to provide numbers,” says Walter Rossa. “The Portuguese empire spans more time periods—since it was the first and the last—but the scale of the British Empire is much larger, not to mention the level of looting.”
