14 December 2026 | Technical Museum Vienna (Technisches Museum Wien)
On 14 December, the United Nations observes the International Day against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations. To mark the occasion, the Technical Museum Vienna is hosting an afternoon of discussions on colonial histories and their ongoing legacies in Austrian museums, alongside the opening of the intervention The Suez Canal – Between Engineering and Colonialism.
The programme brings together researchers and museum professionals to discuss decolonisation in Austrian cultural institutions and explore the research, archival work, and collections of the Technical Museum Vienna.
Our Cultural Heritage Studies team members Mariama de Brito Henn and Lara Bohnenblust will contribute to the event. Mariama will speak about Anti-colonial Work in Austrian Institutions, while Lara will co-moderate the first panel, What Does Decolonisation Mean in Austrian Museums?, alongside Christina Schaaf-Fundneider (Technical Museum Vienna).
Program
12:00 | Doors open
13:00–13:40 | Opening session
Welcome address by Peter Aufreiter (Technical Museum Vienna)
Colonial Acquisitions for Austria? On Research, Collections, and Open Questions – Pia Schölnberger (Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport)
[Re]framing Colonial Infrastructures: What Do Sources from the TMW Archive Tell Us about Austria’s Colonial Entanglements? – Carla Camilleri (Technical Museum Vienna)
13:40–15:00 | Panel I: What Does Decolonisation Mean in Austrian Museums?
Moderation: Christina Schaaf-Fundneider (Technical Museum Vienna) and Lara Bohnenblust (University of Vienna, Cultural Heritage Studies)
Austria and Colonialism: State of Research and Perspectives – Walter Sauer (University of Vienna)
Anti-colonial Work in Austrian Institutions – Mariama de Brito Henn (University of Vienna, Cultural Heritage Studies)
Collections from Colonial Contexts and the Opportunity to Ask New Questions – Vanessa Spanbauer (historian and freelance journalist)
15:00–15:30 | Coffee break
15:30–16:30 | Panel II: Insights into the Research Project “Colonial Infrastructures” at the Technical Museum Vienna
Moderation: Carla Camilleri and Christina Schaaf-Fundneider (Technical Museum Vienna)
Egypt: Planning the Suez Canal – Researching and Contextualising Alois Negrelli’s Estate – Julia Ametsreiter and Lukas Scheibenpflug (Technical Museum Vienna)
Brazil: Dom Pedro II Railway – Archive and Present – Gudrun Rath (University of Arts Linz)
India: North Western Railway – Actors and Networks of a Colonial Infrastructure – Bettina Jernej (Technical Museum Vienna)
Namibia: Otavi Railway – Communicating Colonial History Critically – Michaela Frauwallner (Technical Museum Vienna)
16:45–17:45 | Joint exhibition visit
Material Worlds – Colonial Heritage in the Materiality of the Present – Anne Ebert (Technical Museum Vienna)
The Suez Canal – Between Engineering and Colonialism – Carla Camilleri (Technical Museum Vienna)
18:00 | Museum closes
Location: Technical Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria
The event is organized by the Technisches Museum Wien in cooperation with Cultural Heritage Studies, University of Vienna.