Press Release: 5th International Provenance Research Day 2023 – Researching origin in museums, libraries and archives

On the 12 April 2023, the international Provenance Research Day will take place for the fifth time. Around 100 institutions in Germany, France, Austria, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the USA had registered their participations (state of 4 April 2023).

This year, museums, libraries and other institutions are once again offering a large number of face-to-face events. However, the online formats are now also established as an integral part of the event program to reach a broad audience. Once again this year, many researchers from various institutions came together to collaborate on events. They illustrate the successful efforts of the Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung e.V. towards transparency and networking within the scientific community.

The wide range of programs with more than 100 events is primarily dedicated to topics from the areas of Nazi persecution (68), the history of collections (60), cultural assets from colonial contexts (22) and expropriated objects in the SBZ/GDR (15).
The Provenance Research Day will also be accompanied by Twitter: #TagderProvenienzforschung

A short overview and the calendar of events on the Provenance Research Day can be found on the Website of the Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung e.V.: https://www.arbeitskreis-provenienzforschung.org/veranstaltungen/. If you have questions regarding details about individual events please contact the institution in charge directly.

The Provenance Research Day takes place once a year on the second Wednesday in April. It is of great importance for the Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung e.V. because it shows the social and scientific relevance of our work and provides insights into the methods of the research area to a broader audience. It also draws attention to the precarious employment situation of many provenance researchers, most of whom are still employed on fixed-term contracts with terms of one to three years.

The Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung e.V. has been an international network of scientists and experts since 2000 who deal with research into the origin or the unlawful confiscation of cultural assets. The Arbeitskreis has been organized as a registered association since 2014. The central tasks include the professional support of provenance research in all its fields of activity and the promotion of interdisciplinary exchange. The Arbeitskreis now has 445 members from Germany, France, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and the USA: https://www.arbeitskreis-provenienzforschung.org/.

The day of action is coordinated by the Provenance Research Day working group:
https://www.arbeitskreis-provenienzforschung.org/arbeitsgruppen/ag-tag-der-provenienzforschung/

Your contact for questions:
tag-der-provenienzforschung@arbeitskreis-provenienzforschung.org

This press release as a .pdf