Watch 2023-2024 Sessions

Back to current series

Collections

Dec 04, 2023
8:00 - 9:30 AM PST

Watch the Recording

Presiding: Johannes Beltz
Johannes Beltz read Theology, Indian Studies, and Religious Studies at the Universities of Halle, Strasbourg, Paris, and Lausanne. On numerous occasions throughout the 1990s, he undertook research in India for his PhD thesis. From 1999 to 2002, he worked at the renowned South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg before taking up a post at the Museum Rietberg where he is now curator of the collection of Indian bronzes, sculptures and textiles, and of the South East Asian collection. He has chaired the Museum’s Curatorial Board since 2009, and was appointed assistant director in 2016. In addition, Johannes Beltz has lectured regularly at the University of Zurich and the Zurich University of Teacher Education since 2005.
Collections
Presenter: Jérôme Petit
Jérôme Petit is Curator in charge of the South and Southeast Asia collections at the National Library of France (BnF), and professor for Indian manuscript cultures at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) in Paris, his fields of research are the history of written heritage in India, and the Jaina studies, with a special focus on the Adhyātma movement and the Digambara philosophical tradition.
Jain manuscripts in Paris
The collection of Jain manuscripts at the National Library of France (BnF), Paris, counts around 350 items. From the first ones collected in the mid-18th century to a recent acquisition, it shows the interests of French scholars for this field. In this paper, I will draw an overview of the collection and shed light on some important historical moments and figures. Recently, the BnF digitalized the entire collection that is now accessible all over the world on Gallica. This important task must be followed by detailed descriptions using international standards.
Presenter: Adrian Plau
Adrian Plau is Manuscript Collections Information Analyst at Wellcome Collection. As a 22/23 Headley Fellowship recipient with the Art Fund, he has focused on the provenance, cataloguing, and restitution Wellcome’s collection of Jain manuscripts. He holds a PhD in South Asia Studies from SOAS.
Jain Manuscripts at Wellcome Collection: Overview, Issues, Future
In this brief talk, I’ll give an overview of the Jain manuscripts currently held at Wellcome Collection, including their problematic provenance histories. Against this backdrop, I’ll sketch out the issues involved in cataloguing and managing these manuscripts while staying consistent with the overall collections management aims and policies of Wellcome Collection. Finally, I’ll point to some potential pathways for the collection’s future and suggest ways of thinking around manuscript collections that consider different historical types of ‘taking’.