about

Dr. Christoph Balzar is an art historian and museum curator, born in 1980 in Hirschau and living in Berlin. He studied «Visual Communication» and «Photography» at the «Hochschule für Gestaltung Aachen» and completed an exchange program in «Aboriginal Cultures and Philosophies» at the «Technical University of Sydney, Australia». He earned his Master’s degree in «Curatorial Studies» at the «Institute for Art in Context» at the «Universität der Künste Berlin». He completed his PhD in «Art History» in 2021 at the «Art History Institute» of the «Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn».

Balzar’s work moves at the intersection of art history, cultural studies, and historiography. He specialises in the decolonisation of ethnological museums, collections, and archives. His research on sacred object collections from colonial contexts includes «Das kolonisierte Heiligtum» (transcript Verlag, 2022), a study on the epistemic violence exerted by ethnographic museums and their historicities.

Since September 2025, Balzar has been based at the «University of Freiburg», where he researches the provenance of the «anatomico-anthropological collection», also known as the «Alexander-Ecker-Sammlung». The five-year project, situated at the «Vice-Rectorate for University Culture» and funded jointly by the «University of Freiburg» and the «Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg», investigates the history of hundreds of human skulls taken from colonial contexts of violence. The research reconstructs their origins to enable their return to the societies of origin while examining the involvement of Freiburg’s anthropology and related disciplines in colonial and racial science.

Alongside his historical research, Balzar has established a strong curatorial practice. He has supported museums and cultural institutions in organisational and project development, provenance research, and the management of cultural heritage. He is a founding member and curator of the decolonial space at «BARAZANI.berlin» in Berlin-Mitte. His projects frequently engage with digital methods and virtual exhibition formats, opening collections to critical reflection and wider accessibility.

Balzar teaches at several universities, including the «Universität der Künste Berlin», the «University of Potsdam» and «Bonn University». His teaching covers museology, critical race theory, cultural mediation, and the integration of digital media and artificial intelligence in artistic and academic research.

He is a member of various committees and networks, including «ICOM Germany», the «BBK Bundesverband Bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler», and the «AK Museen und Sammlungen, Decolonize Berlin». His work spans international collaborations with indigenous communities from Australia, Colombia, Peru, Togo, and Benin.

Research Interests

«Provenance and Restitution Research»
«Critical Museum Studies»
«Colonial and Racial Sciences, and their Continuities into National Socialism»
«Art History of the 20th and 21st Century, with a focus on Conceptual Art and Institutional Critique»
«Digital Cultural Heritage»
«Decolonial and Postcolonial Theories in Curatorial Practice»
«Indigenous Epistemologies»