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# Over 3,500 colonial items identified in six Catalan museums
- URL: https://barna.news/over-3-500-colonial-items-identified-in/
- Published: 2026-10-10T08:52:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-10T08:52:36.000Z
- Description: A recent audit has documented more than 3,500 objects of colonial origin across six major museums in Catalonia.
- Author: Barna.News
- Tags: culture, Catalonia

## Colonial-era objects mapped in museum collections

More than 3,500 items of colonial origin have been identified in the collections of just six museums across Catalonia, according to a report published by elcritic.cat based on verified research. The findings highlight the scale of colonial-era material held in public institutions and have renewed calls for transparency and ethical review. The audit focused on major cultural institutions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA), where debates on decolonising museums have taken place since at least 2014\. That year, MACBA hosted a seminar titled 'Decolonising the Museum', which included discussions on categorisation, decolonial aesthetics, and the ethical curation of unknown or contested heritage.

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## Longstanding debate meets new accountability

The 2014 event at MACBA, documented in a sound recording archived under registration number A.HIS.03365, brought together artists, curators, and researchers to examine how museums collect and interpret non-Western artefacts. The discussions, conducted in English and Spanish, are preserved under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 ES licence and remain accessible through the MACBA archive. While the current audit does not specify the exact nature or provenance of all 3,500+ items, its publication marks a significant step in efforts to confront the colonial legacies embedded in Catalan cultural collections. Institutions are increasingly under pressure to clarify how such objects were acquired and whether restitution or repatriation should follow.

> The presence of over 3,500 colonial items in just six museums underscores the need for systematic review and public accountability in cultural stewardship.

Researchers and activists stress that identifying these objects is only the first phase. The next steps involve consulting source communities, assessing legal and moral claims, and determining appropriate actions, which may include returning items to countries of origin. For more information on MACBA's archival materials related to decolonisation, including recordings and photographic reports from past events, the public can contact arxiu@macba.cat.

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*Reported by elcritic.cat, macba.cat.*