Who We Work with

CARMAH is grateful to receive support from multiple national and international partner organisations. On the one hand, there are those who contribute to our work as financial supporters, such as the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation or the European Commission. Some of our partners, on the other hand, not only finance researcher positions, but also complement our research as collaboration partners, such as the Museum of Natural History or the national museums of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. And with the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, more specifically the Department of European Ethnology, CARMAH has found its physical and intellectual home. On this page we introduce who we work with, and how they contribute to CARMAH.

Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik

At the Central Institute Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik (HZK), scientists and practitioners work together on the interdisciplinary cross-sectional topics “collections” and “exhibitions” – interdisciplinary, international, and excellent. The activation, use, and further development of the decentralized academic collections of the Humboldt-Universität in research, teaching, and education is a central task of the HZK. The collection directors and custodians at the institutes are supported in this process, among other things by the development of standards and recommendations for the handling and preservation of academic collections.

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

CARMAH is a research centre of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin), which provides the infrastructure of CARMAH and employs our research and management staff. Moreover, the HU Berlin funds additional positions for CARMAH, such as a junior professorship in the area of Media and Mediation, and is responsible for the overall administration of the centre.

Institut für Europäische Ethnologie, HU Berlin

The Department of European Ethnology (IfEE) is the intellectual and physical home of CARMAH. We are situated on the 4th floor of the IfEE in Møhrenstraße 40 and are firmly integrated into the Institute’s daily life. CARMAH and IfEE colleagues are developing new collaboration opportunities in a variety of formats: for example, we co-organise the summer semester’s Tuesday research colloquium and explore different perspectives on museum practices through the IfEE’s Museumslabor.

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is the main financial supporter of CARMAH. The majority of the centre’s work is funded through the €3.5 million prize money awarded to Sharon Macdonald as part of her 5-year Alexander von Humboldt Professorship. This includes, in particular, the activities of flagship project Making Differences in Berlin. In addition, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation supports researchers who wish to join CARMAH as research fellows through their many other funding programmes.

European Commission

The European Commission funds the TRACES project, which employs 2 research positions for two Work Packages at CARMAH, via its Horizon 2020 Reflective Societies programme.

COMCOL | International Committee of ICOM

COMCOL is an International Committee of ICOM which aims to deepen discussions, and share knowledge on the practice, theory, and ethics of collecting and collections (both tangible and intangible) development. COMCOL is a platform for professional exchange of views and experiences around collecting in the broadest sense. The mandate includes: collecting and de-accessioning policies; contemporary collecting; restitution of cultural property and respectful practices that affect the role of collections now and in the future, from all types of museums and from all parts of the world.
CARMAH & COMCOL cooperate in the monthly online discussions of Making Museums Matter, a follow-up of CARMAH’s previous Museums Lab.

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

The Museum of Natural History Berlin (MfN) is a further partner and supporter of CARMAH. The museum will fund the future appointee of the junior professorship that will work in the area of museum and science studies, a joint position of CARMAH/the IfEE and the MfN. It also acts as collaboration partner in the Making Differences in Berlin research area Science and Citizenship.