Marion Bertin

Biographie

Marion Bertin holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of La Rochelle, as well as a degree in Art History and Museology from the École du Louvre. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Catholic University of Louvain (UC Louvain) in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Over the past decade, she has conducted extensive research on the colonial history of museum collections, with a particular focus on Oceania. She has notably worked on the history of “dispersed Kanak heritage” and its two main initiatives: the Inventory of Dispersed Kanak Heritage (IPKD, 1979) and the program of temporary returns of “ambassador objects” of Kanak culture to Nouméa, New Caledonia. Currently, as part of her postdoctoral work in Belgium, she contributes to the FNRS-funded project REMAIN HUMAN, which studies negotiations surrounding human remains from the Congo held in Belgian collections. She is currently President of the International Committee for Museology (ICOFOM, 2025–2028) within ICOM, after having served as Secretary (2019–2022) and then Co–Vice President (2022–2025).