The research project 'Colonial Germany and the Hidden Cultural History of Germany in Ethnographic Collections' brings together historical colonial collections from Europe and the United States of America for the first time using a special methodological approach to provenance research. On the basis of colonial collections from over 20 museums, a database of almost 90,000 objects has been built up, bringing together more than 1,000 collectors and donors alone. The database primarily contains objects collected by German collectors between 1884 and 1919. By bringing together colonial collections from Europe and the United States, the project provides an important insight into collecting practices and patterns that took place in the German colonies.

The creation of such a database enables the application of a new methodological approach to provenance research and allows questions to be asked not only about the individual objects and the collection, but also about the collectors in particular. For example, the database can be used to precisely locate a collector's collection in historical plans of the region and to record further details about the objects. When such plans are combined with historical sources, precise insights into the collectors can be gained. For example, the previous mapping and research carried out at the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg (2013-2015) revealed a strong correlation between the type of object collected, the military movement in the area and the conflicts with the local population. In this case, collectors who belonged to the military procured more weapons during times of conflict with the local population and the Schutztruppe, particularly in German East Africa. This analysis can be transferred and applied on a larger scale to explore certain patterns of collecting at other museums and to other collectors and what this means for the representation of the colonies in Germany.

For provenance researchers, a better understanding of German collecting practices and patterns from the colonies will also enable a new approach to their collections. A common collecting practice in regions or for certain activities makes it possible, for example, to focus investigations on collectors who would otherwise be overlooked because they were often considered insignificant. If, for example, only a few collectors in a region collected weapons, this can be categorised as "normal". However, if another collector in the same region procured a large number of weapons, this may indicate that unethical collecting practices were used, for example by a punitive expedition hidden in history. Among other things, this can be helpful in detecting unethically procured objects hidden in museum collections. Until now, it has not been possible to carry out a corresponding analysis, as the collections of individual collectors or entire expeditions have been divided up among the individual museums and objects have been exchanged between them over the last 100 years. At the same time, a standardised database of colonial objects is needed in order to carry out the corresponding statistical analyses.

2018 - PRESENT: Research assistant, University of Oldenburg

03/2017 - 06/2017: Specialist user of geoinformation systems with ArcGIS course

06/2013 - 07/2015: Research assistant and curator at the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg. Investigation of the museum's ethnological collection Curator of the exhibition "Eigen und Fremd" (09/2014- 04/2015) and "Böser Wilder, Friedlicher Wilder" (06/2015-09/2015) - research, conception, exhibition texts, creation of the catalogue.

2009-2011: Master of Arts (Merit). Historical Archaeology. University of Leicester (UK)

2010: Study abroad "Excavation Techniques" Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden.

2003-2007: Bachelor of Arts. Main subjects: Anthropology and Archaeology; minor: Southeast Asian Studies. Northern Illinois University (USA)

2005-2006: Studies and scientific research. Rangsit University, Bangkok, Thailand

06/2010 - 08/2010: Archaeologist. Skriðuklaustersrannsóknir; Reykjavik, Iceland

06/2009 - 04/2011: Archaeologist. Foundation Cathedrals and Palaces in Saxony-Anhalt, Magdeburg

07/ 2008 - 12/2008: Building researcher. Master's programme in Monument Conservation, Technical University of Berlin

01/2008 - 04/2008: Excavation technician. St. Eustatius Centre for Archaeological Research, St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles

Glenn Arthur Ricci: Bad savage, peaceful savage. How museums shape the image of other cultures, Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg 2015.

Glenn Arthur Ricci: Own and foreign in worlds of faith, Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg 2014.

Glenn Arthur Ricci: The mass grave Beneath the Magdeburg Cathedral, LAP Lambert Academig Publishing, 2012.

Glenn Arthur Ricci: The archaeology of a contemporary "Leichenhalle" in Berlin, Germany. Historical Archaeology. 2011.