Ruby Satele Asiata at the Workshop “Uncovering Colonial Collections, Enabling Reconnection”

Our colleague Ruby Satele Asiata recently participated in the two-day workshop “Uncovering Colonial Collections, Enabling Reconnection”, held from 24–25 September 2025 and jointly hosted by Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and the MARKK – Museum am Rothenbaum, Kulturen und Künste der Welt.

On 25 September, Ruby presented in the panel on Repatriation with her talk titled “To Rematriate is to Recentre: Voices of Samoa.”
Her presentation focused on ancestors removed from Samoa in the early 1900s — now held in the collections of Göttingen University and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin.

Ruby’s contribution highlighted that an early part of rematriation lies in listening to and recentring the voices of the Samoan community, past and present. Through letters, personal responses, and community perspectives, she shed light on acts of resilience, remembrance, and solidarity that continue to shape contemporary practices of care and reconnection.