Faces from colonial times: the collection of facial casts at the Sapienza University of Rome (Museum of Anthropology "G. Sergi")).

Abstract

Founded in 1894, the Museum "G. Sergi" houses a variety of osteological materials and other collections, including several plaster facial casts from different human populations. This paper investigates this collection, which has been acquired (at least in part) in the framework of Italian colonialism, focusing on expeditions respectively led by Lidio Cipriani and Corrado Gini during the fascist regime. By examining these casts and the colonial missions associated with them, we compare the goals of Cipriani and Gini, uncovering the otherwise forgotten history of these collections, and provide new insights from the perspective of the colonized. While Gini's records include the names of local actors, Cipriani's documentation identifies individuals in only one notable case, that of the "Arabi dello Yemen", a group of Yemenis about to join the Italian askari forces. Globally, many museums are re-evaluating similar samples and it is in this framework that we present these case-studies. In addition, as a collaborative effort by researchers from different fields, this paper aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion about how human facial casts should be displayed in museums.