Research interests
Urban Anthropology: Postcolonial Urbanisation, Mobility and Migration
Museum Anthropology: Contested Cultural Heritage, Displacement, Provenance and Restitution
Regional specialization
West Africa: Benin Republic, Nigeria
South America: Brazil, Colombia
Europe: Switzerland, France
Short bio
Dr. Alice Hertzog is the director of the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich. As a social anthropologist, her research has two main preoccupations. The first, in the field of urban anthropology, questions the social transformations occurring with post-migrant cityscapes. The second focus, situated in museum anthropology, investigates the circulation of contested cultural heritage held in ethnographic museums. Both aspects of her research are influenced by postcolonial perspectives, examining the ways in which flows of people and material culture negotiate colonial legacies and impact social change.
She joined the museum in 2023 as provenance researcher, having previously worked at the Museum Rietberg, where she undertook research for the Swiss Benin Initiative, investigating the collections of eight Swiss museums. She is an alumna of Cambridge University, Sciences Po, École Normale Supérieur d’Ulm, and the ETH Zurich.
Alice Hertzog is committed to collaborative methodologies and strengthening the interface between science and society. She has previously developed participatory research processes with cultural institutions, local governance and international development agencies.
Exhibitions
| 2024–2026 | Benin Dues. Dealing with Looted Royal Treasures, co-curation mit Alexis Malefakis |
| 2023 | Planetary Urbanisation, collaborative installation, Zentrum Architektur Zürich |
| 2021 | Worlds of Planetary Urbanisation, collaborative installation, 17th International Architecture Exhibition, Giardini, Venice |
| 2018 | Architectural Ethnography, research assistant, Japanese Pavilion, 16th International Architectural Biennale, Venice |
| 2014 | Etre Pêcheur, project advisor, Escale Photos Festival de Mor Braz, Ile de Houat |
| 2012 | Under Gods / Belleville Bazaar, co-curator with Liz Hingely, Galérie de la Petite Poule Noire, Paris |
| 2009–2010 | Présence Africaine, publication assistant Gradhiva, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris |
| 2007 | Un Parcours d’Innovation Local, curator, IMAJ’, Auch |
Current research projects
- Benin Dues – Dealing with Looted Royal Treasures
- Provenance Hacks – Digital Interfaces for Visualizing Collections
- OpenEthno: Unlocking Collections Data
Publications
ZORA Publication List
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Publications
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Entre God Dollars et Coran Digitals : la circulation des articles religieux "made in China" In: Chuang, Ya-Han; Trémon, Anne-Christine . Mobilités et mobilisations chinoises en France. Paris: Terra HN éditions, online.
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Moderne Amazonen. Alltägliche Kämpfe um das Recht auf die Stadt Afrika Bulletin, (179):6-7.
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The West African corridor from Abidjan to Lagos: a megacity-region under construction In: Labbé, Danielle; Sorensen, André . Handbook of megacities and megacity-regions. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 206-222.
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Between fixities and flows: Navigating place attachments in an increasingly mobile world Journal of Environmental Psychology, 61:125-133.
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Revendications – die Forderungen von Oswald Adande Arch+ : Zeitschrift für Architektur und Urbanismus, (238):36-41.
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Book Review: Boccagni, Paolo: Looking for home: explorations of migrant domestic space City, 22(5-6):894-897.
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Bartering for belonging: ethnic trade in Belleville, Paris In: Davis, Kathy; Ghorashi, Halleh; Smets, Peer . Contested belonging : spaces, practices, biographies. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing, 183-208.
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Grounded Materials ou de la matière ancrée. Retour sur une expérience pédagogique zurichoise Le Philotope, (12):279-286.
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Markets in the tropics : Summerschool 2014 & 2015 : Barranquilla Colombia Edited by: Grob, Marie; Hertzog, Alice; Kalagas, Alexis (2015). Zürich: ETH Zürich.
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Performative languages III: Belleville Bazaar In: Garnett, Jane; Harris, Alana . Rescripting religion in the city : migration and religious identity in the modern metropolis. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 77-88.
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Reportage à La Ruche, au cœur du ‘buzz’ de l’innovation sociale Chantiers politiques, (9):57-61.