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Written by the Zurich group
This research based teaching (Lehrforschung) was conceptualized as a student research exchange between Switzerland and Bangladesh. We aimed at recontextualizing the ethnographic collections of Lorenz Löffler, who did field research in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (a hilly borderland in southeastern Bangladesh) in the 1950s. Can we understand an ethnographic collection as a kind of time capsule? How do young people today relate to these collections? And: Does Löffler’s archive hold any potential for peacebuilding in the conflict troubled Chittagong Hill Tracts?
After some preparatory meetings in autumn 2023 under the supervision of Prof. Mareile Flitsch and Rebekka Sutter, the Zurich group (consisting of the students Sheila Honegger, Amir Mommartz, Ana Riciard, Thierry Schneeberger, led by Rebekka Sutter) travelled to Dhaka in February. During a workshop in the city of Chittagong, we discussed the potential of Löffler's legacy together with 20 indigenous students and received online inputs from Prof. Mareile Flitsch, who had initiated the student exchange and successfully applied for the funding obtained by the Stiftung für wissenschaftliche Forschung SWF. After three intense workshop days, we got the unique chance to tour the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), including the village where Löffler conducted his research. Thanks to our committed local guide, we were even able to talk to people who remembered his stay in the village back in the 1950s.
In June 2024 we eagerly awaited the return visit: five indigenous students from Bangladesh landed at Zurich airport. It was overwhelming to meet Zing Ruat Par Bawm, Zoneikim Pangkhua, Ralong Khumi, U Shamong Kheyang and Thongpong Mro again, after months of uncertainty about whether their visas would be approved.
During their three-week stay, the entire team spent time at the Lindenmuseum in Stuttgart to examine the ethnographic objects collected by Löffler held there. Back in Zurich, we set up a small exhibition at the Ethnographic Museum, giving an insight into our project and raising awareness of the highly precarious situation of indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Finally, we had the opportunity to participate in an academic conference at the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich. Together with leading experts, activists, and a group of indigenous PhD students from the CHT who are currently studying in Europe, we discussed if and how ethnographic collections can be used for conflict transformation.
The project has not only provided us with a unique opportunity to experience the 'feel' of field research and to reflect on some fundamental challenges of collaborative projects based on museum ethnographic collections. The personal friendships we have developed with the local students encourage us also to continue discussing the ongoing complex political situation in Bangladesh from their perspective beyond the project period. Indeed: ethnographic collections do hold enormous potentials for peace building!
Our heartfelt thanks go to the SWF and to the Ethnographic Museum as well as the Maleya Foundation, and in particular to Mrinal Kanti Tripura and Uchacha A Chak as well as to Rebekka Sutter, who supported us almost “day and night” and always put us in touch with the right people in time, who shared their experiences and wisdom with us.
More insights about the projects: https://www.instagram.com/cht.collab.ch/
Lorenz Löffler was the first professor of social anthropology at UZH (1971-1995). His nearly two-year fieldwork (1956/57) among indigenous groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) began his lifelong study of these hill tribes that populate the mountainous hill ranges of Bangladesh. Löffler’s legacy, archived at Ethnographic Museum of Zurich University, includes publications, archival collections, photographs, and numerous audio documents. He was only able to partially transcribe and translate the latter during his lifetime. Löffler’s legacy also includes a collection of ethnographic objects from the CHT, which is preserved at the Linden Museum in Stuttgart.
Today, the Chittagong Hill Tracts are marked by violent conflicts and land evictions, and many young people in the CHT have been and continue to be exposed to physical and psychological violence; they are questioning and demanding to find their roots and have accordingly shown great interest in the Löffler archive during a collaborative exhibition project on Lorenz Löffler. Third-party funding now makes it possible to continue or expand this collaboration within the framework of a student exchange.
The student exchange is designed as teaching research: Three students from the institute of social anthropology in Zurich and three (max. five) indigenous students from the CHT will receive teaching inputs in Bangladesh and in Zurich, jointly develop research questions and topics and subsequently conduct small field research in Zurich, Stuttgart, and Bangladesh.
The module will conclude with a public workshop in Zurich (hybrid with Bangladesh) with the presentation of the results of the teaching research.
The teaching research in Zurich will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Mareile Flitsch and Rebekka Sutter, in Bangladesh by Rebekka Sutter and Mrinal Kanti Tripura.
The module is open for BA and MA students. A completed introductory course is the basic requirement for participation. In addition, participation in the methods in-depth course “Doing Ethnography” (3 ECTS credits) is required. Attendance of the practical module “Museum Internship” is recommended (in FS2024).
6 ETCS credits will be awarded for the module.
The module is structured in two semesters (HS23/FS24):
Within the framework of the externally funded project, travel and accommodation costs (for the two-week stay in Bangladesh) for 3-4 students can be covered at least in part. The participants are not insured by the UZH. It is up to the participants to take care of the corresponding private insurance coverage (accident and health insurance) and to bear these costs themselves.
A detailed information session will be held in September 2023. Students will be selected through the application process.
Interested students can now express their interest by email and clarify any questions they may have.
Prof. Dr. Mareile Flitsch: flitsch@vmz.uzh.ch
Rebekka Sutter: sutter@vmz.uzh.ch