Some museums are undoubtedly imperial institutions, spaces where colonial and Eurocentric conquest was propagated and justified, and non-European objects were exhibited in displays derived from racist political views. Archaeology also played an important role in serving colonial aims: a particular case in point is certainly that of French expansion in North Africa from the 1880s onwards. The French institutions, strengthened by their Napoleonic legacy and, above all, by the experience of the Louvre as the cornerstone of a constantly expanding universal museum, made extensive use of Algerian and Tunisian heritage for colonial purposes.
The aim of this presentation is to contribute to a reflection on the rediscovery of Tunisia's early Christian heritage by French military and religious figures during the Protectorate period. In particular, the presentation will focus on the little-known history of the collection of archaeological finds from the excavations of the early Christian sites, discovered between 1880s and the 1930s. These finds were then moved to France, or to local museums that French founded in North Africa. These foundations served to reinforce the themes of French colonial policy of expansion in the southern Mediterranean. The talk will present documents and images from the period, commenting on this museum operation according to the assumptions of critical museology.

First Author: Chiara Cecalupo

Keywords:
Tunisia
early Christianity
French colonialism
Museums