Renaming – People, Things, Places
From 4 September 2026
Names are powerful. They shape how we understand ourselves, how others relate to us, and how we make sense of the world around us. Changing a name can affirm a person’s identity or mark a break with the past. It can signal a rite of passage, indicate political transformation, or reflect cultural renewal; it can express both pain and relief.
The Völkerkunde?museum at the University of Zurich has outgrown its name. In 2026, we launched a participatory process to find a new one. This exhibition is part of that transition and invites you to consider more broadly what is at stake when names change.
Who has the power to name? Under what circumstances are names changed? Why do alternative or contested names persist alongside official ones? Naming is not merely descriptive; it is a social practice through which identities, relationships, and knowledge are created and contested.
The exhibition explores naming and renaming through the stories of people, things, and places, drawing on items from the museum collection. It was developed in collaboration with anthropology students from the University of Zurich along with other partners. We also present contemporary artistic perspectives and community input to reveal how acts of naming and renaming unfold across different cultural contexts.
