5th ILAB Symposium 2026

The project presented its work at the 5th ILAB Symposium on 18 September 2026 in the following panel:

Difficult Histories: Colonial Legacies, Sensitive Material, and Responsible Cataloguing

How should booksellers, librarians, and researchers approach historical material shaped by colonialism, racism, antisemitism, or other difficult contexts?

This session explores evolving approaches to provenance, contextualisation, sensitive language, and ethical cataloguing practices in both institutional and commercial settings. Bringing together different professional perspectives, the discussion aims to encourage open dialogue on how greater care, transparency, and scholarly integrity can strengthen the work of both libraries and the trade.

Lars Müller, Project Coordinator, Koloniale Kontexte (Colonial Contexts), a working group funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG);

Melanie Pehlivan, Deputy Head, Oriental Department, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin;

Matthias Harbeck, Head, Specialised Information Service for Social and Cultural Anthropology, Humboldt University Library Berlin;

Harald Hultquist, Harald Hultqvist Rare Books, Specialist in Africana and Slavery, Stockholm.

For further information, see: 5th ILAB Symposium Berlin