Entangled Stories: Science and Colonialism in the Collection of Petrus Camper

How did orangutans from Borneo end up on a dissection table in the Netherlands? What happened to the elephants studied by scientists? How did they gain access to human remains from the Netherlands and its colonies? And what impact did their work have on the development of racial science?

The University Museum Groningen presents Entangled Stories: Science and Colonialism in the Collection of Petrus Camper, an exhibition exploring the colonial history of the university’s collection. At its core is the legacy of scientist Petrus Camper (1722–1789), whose collection has been preserved at the University of Groningen for over 200 years.

Camper was a man of contradictions: he opposed slavery, yet he collected human remains from the colonies without consent. For years, Petrus Camper was honored through exhibitions (including at the University Museum) and in the city of Groningen. However, with today’s understanding, critical questions must be asked about how Camper and other scientists obtained human and animal specimens. The exhibition highlights how Camper’s legacy is intertwined with colonial structures and the development of scientific racism. How should museums address this history?

Entangled Stories invites visitors to take a fresh look at the history of science and to reflect on the future of academic heritage.

The exhibition is part of the international research project Pressing Matter: Ownership, Value, and the Question of Colonial Heritage in Museums and was curated by researchers from Amsterdam, Groningen, and Leiden.