Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Institut für Europäische Ethnologie

I am Junior Professor of Social Anthropology at the Institute for European Ethnology working across the Centre for Anthropological Research on Museums and Heritage (CARMAH) and Hermannn von Helmholtz Centre for Cultural Techniques (HZK). My work focuses on material culture and critical understandings of heritage with reference to collections and making. I am also interested in questions of knowledge production, materiality, politics and affect. I have conducted long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Romania and the UK, as well as projects in Italy and Poland. 

I joined the HU as an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow in 2019 after a postdoctoral project on learning cities at the University of Bristol. Originally trained in anthropology (Goldsmiths College) and critical heritage studies (UCL), I have previously taught at Goldsmiths, Bristol Doctoral School and Imperial College London.

In addition to my HU work, I am a vice-chair and German hub coordinator of the TRACTS Cost Action on Traces as Research Agenda for Climate Change, Technology Studies and Social Justice. 

Prior to my academic research, I have worked in applied anthropology in the private and the museum sector, and I am particularly interested in developing new modes of ethnographic writing and exhibition making. Previous co-curated exhibitions include:

• Revisiting Romania: Dress and Identity at the Horniman Museum in London reimagined a 1950s museum collection through ethnographic research
• Forging Folklore, Disrupting Archives at Constance Howard Gallery in London worked to remediate textile collections through critical art interventions

• Learning City: A Self-Portrait at Coexist Gallery, Hamilton House in Bristol brought together contributions from a range of partners such as Barton Hill Settlement, Countering Colston, Dhek Bhal, Easton Community Centre, Bristol Bike Project, Coexist Community Kitchen, Refugee Women of Bristol, St Mungo's, Workers' Educational Association and Wild Walks for Wellbeing as well as artists Eleanor Shipman, Joff Winterhart and Biggerhouse Film 

I am also passionate about disability justice and play an active role in the IfEE Collective Access group.

Research areas 

• material culture
• collection research
• heritage and museum ethnography
• memory, heritage politics and activism
• making, craft, knowledge production
• trace as epistemological, ethical and methodological challenge
• making and ways of knowing
• informal learning, affect and care
• curatorial practice

Office hours

Office hours are held on Fridays from 9-11h during the term. Please arrange an appointment by email and specify the length of the meeting.

Supervision

I am interested in supervising BA, MA and PhD students in the fields highlighted above. For enquiries, please email a research outline to magdalena.buchczyk@hu-berlin.de