The ‘Expedition’ of the Viennese Anthropologist Rudolf Pöch to Papua New Guinea (1904–1906)
The starting point for this project on the entangled colonial history of sound recordings from Papua New Guinea, was the CD-edition Papua New Guinea (1904–1906): The collections of Rudolf Pöch, Wilhelm Schmidt, and Josef Winthuis, published by the Phonogrammarchiv in 2000. The scholarly commentary on the 94 surviving sound documents was written by ethnomusicologist Don Niles, based on his study of the original sources in Vienna and research with some of the descendants of the recorded people in Papua New Guinea.
Almost a quarter of a century later, this website incorporates the findings from research carried out on additional written, material and visual primary sources from the hitherto little-noticed ‘expedition’ to Southeast Asia and Oceania.
The picture shows examples of the relevant materials currently found in the Phonogrammarchiv: handwritten descriptions of the sound recordings in three volumes of protocols, a metal matrix and a wax disc from this collection, the CD-edition and the complete set of epoxy resin disc copies.
Working with a photograph of Rudolf Pöch from his trip to Papua New Guinea, ca. 1904-1906 (original photograph: Departement for Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna, shelfmark: RP OZ 0661). Photo of the collage by Alexander Silaen, 2023.
“Pöch – again?”
During conversations as part of the project, we were confronted with this question several times. Many people who work in the context of collections and the history of science in Austria have long been familiar with Pöch. Various projects have already dealt critically with this controversial Austrian ‘explorer’ and ‘pioneer’ and his legacy. His violent actions and racist thinking were exposed in various publications and brought to the attention of the German and English speaking public (see list of references below).
How, therefore, should we deal with the historical sources against this background? Who should have access to the extensive material that Pöch ‘collected’ and produced? What meaning do they carry today – and for whom? And how might we realize a project or website that deals with colonial action in connection with an ‘expedition’ and the resulting material ‘cultural heritage’?
The search for sources was guided in part by the goal of reconstructing this specific entangled colonial history, but also by current discourse on restitution and (re-)circulation. Ultimately, it sought to highlight the vast diversity of media within the numerous historical records, contributing to a reappraisal of this history, and to better enable findability today.
By bringing together and organising relevant information about the respective institutional holdings, this project will form a valuable foundation for future research into their broader contexts. At the same time, our work offers an opportunity for future projects to reflect critically on the handling of sources, archival politics and issues of accessibility within the context of colonial history.
Project Team
Project team
This website is a result of the project, “The entangled colonial history of sound recordings: The expedition of the Viennese anthropologist Rudolf Pöch to Papua New Guinea (1904–1906)”, for which Cornelia Gruber and Clemens Gütl received funding from the City of Vienna (MA 7) via the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Between 1 October 2023 and 30 November 2024, they acted as principal investigators of the project. The main researcher was the historian of science Alexander Silaen. Petzi Beneš corrected, translated, and entered the texts into this website. Will Prentice proofread the English translation.
Our Network
The list of institutions which hold primary sources on Pöch’s journey to Papua New Guinea today was compiled in close consultation with the respective responsible persons and international researchers. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their constructive cooperation.
Margit Berner (Natural History Museum Vienna)
Reinhard Blumauer (Weltmuseum Wien)
Anette Hoffmann (Independant Scholar)
Hanin Hannouch (Weltmuseum Wien)
Hilary Howes (The Australian National University)
Manfred Kaufmann (Weltmuseum Wien)
Gerda Lechleitner (Phonogrammarchiv of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, retired)
Katarina Matiasek (University of Vienna)
Caroline McKinley (Weltmuseum Wien)
Don Niles (Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, retired)
Stefan Sienell (Archive of the Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Harald Wilfing (University of Vienna)
Andrea Zaremba (Natural History Museum Vienna)
Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
Literature
Hoffmann, Anette. 2022. Listening to Colonial History. Echoes of Coercive Knowledge Production in Historical Sound Recordings from Southern Africa. Basel: Basler Afrikabibliographien.
Legassick, Martin and Ciraj Rassool. 2000. Skeletons in the Cupboard: South African Museums and the Trade in Human Remains, 1907–1917. Cape Town, Kimberley: South African Museum and McGregor Museum.
Schasiepen, Sophie. 2019. „Die ‚Lehrmittelsammlung‘ von Dr. Rudolf Pöch an der Universität Wien. Anthropologie, Forensik und Provenienz“. Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften 1, 15–29.