Collections
The Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB) are a renowned documentation and competence center in Basel specializing in Namibia and southern Africa. The institution includes a library and an archive and offers researchers and interested individuals a wide range of materials.
Library
The library is open to the public. Visits are possible without prior registration.
The BAB Library is one of the most comprehensive collections on Namibia outside the country and contains over 56,000 books as well as around 600 current periodicals. The focus is on publications that cover all Namibian languages as well as historical, social, and natural sciences. In addition to academic literature, the collection includes fiction, grey literature, schoolbooks, and publications by Namibian authorities. The collection is complemented by rare books, posters, maps, films, newspapers, audio recordings, stamps, postcards, and other media.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our library team: library@baslerafrika.ch
Archiv
The archive is open to the public for anyone interested and researchers. Advance registration is required: archive@baslerafrika.ch
The archive focuses on unpublished material and houses around 180 private collections (personal archives) and archives of organisations (general archives). These collections focus on Namibia and southern Africa in the 20th century, as well as Swiss citizens in Africa. In addition to written documents, the archive also holds audiovisual materials such as photographs, films and sound recordings.
We regularly add new archive material to our holdings, but not documents stored in southern Africa. In consultation with the National Archives of Namibia (NAN), the BAB has been repatriating parts of its holdings on a regular basis since 1995. We also accept digitally created archive material.
If you have any questions, please contact our archive team: archive@baslerafrika.ch
General Declaration
Order Form for Digital Reproductions
Archival Collections Comprehensive Catalogue
Ordering ticket Archive
Fees for publishing reproductions
Price List for Reproductions
Collection Policy
The collection policy of the Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB) focuses on curating materials related to Namibia and southern Africa, as well as the connections between Switzerland and Africa. However, we do not acquire unique items that are held in southern Africa. Instead, we aim to establish collaborations with institutions in the countries of origin in order to enable long-term and context-appropriate preservation on site.
The main focal points can be summarized as follows:
Namibia and Southern Africa
The BAB manage comprehensive materials on Namibia and southern Africa, using an interdisciplinary approach that covers topics such as history, politics, society, culture, and the natural sciences.
Connections between Switzerland and Africa
Another focus is the research and documentation of the relationships between Switzerland and Africa.
Solidarity Movements
The BAB archives contain significant collections from solidarity movements, particularly those engaged in anti-apartheid efforts or supporting political reforms in Africa.
Diversity of Media
The collection includes books, journals, grey literature, posters, film, photographs, audio, and digital objects, providing access to a wide range of information.
Disclaimer
Dealing with colonial and racist vocabulary in the archive
Dealing with colonial and racist vocabulary in the archive
With this disclaimer, the BAB archive team aims to make the curatorial decisions regarding colonial collections in our catalogues and databases transparent. We see this as an ongoing process that requires constant reflection and adjustment. In doing so, we bear responsibility both for the presentation of the content and towards the persons, families and their descendants mentioned or depicted.
In dialogue with experts and colleagues – especially from Namibia and southern Africa – we are developing strategies and practices for a decolonial approach to the collections. Our goal is to establish respectful, transparent and inclusive access to the source holdings.
We invite all interested parties to critically and actively accompany this process.
Your comments are important to us and can be sent by email to archive@baslerafrika.ch.
Dealing with problematic language and sensitive content
Dealing with problematic language and sensitive content
Many of our holdings originate from colonial contexts. As a result, the catalogue entries contain terms and phrases that are now considered offensive, derogatory or incorrect. In order to critically assess these and ensure that they are handled responsibly, we have developed the following strategies:
- Labelling and contextualisation: Problematic original terms, quotations, titles and captions are placed in quotation marks and, if necessary, supplemented with the note [historical term] to indicate their historical origin.
- Obliteration of sensitive words: Highly offensive terms are made unreadable in the catalogue (e.g. N-, M- or K-word). Example: “N****” [historical term].
- Searchability: Historical place names or terms are kept for research purposes, but are supplemented with current names and stored as synonyms. Example: Ovamboland (historical term).
Updated keyword policy: Since 2018, we no longer use ethnic labels as keywords in the archive for new catalogue entries. However, older entries still contain them.
Visual media and ethical challenges in the archive and library catalogue
Visual media and ethical challenges in the archive and library catalogue
The digitisation and online publication of images from colonial contexts pose numerous ethical challenges. These image archives often show unnamed individuals and depict everyday and structural violence, e.g. through images of war or torture. Moreover, they can be characterised by racist, objectifying, sexualising or voyeuristic perspectives.
Therefore, we make the following decisions when selecting images to display online:
- Avoiding discriminatory representations: We avoid showing images online that are discriminatory towards individuals.
- Obliterating content: If necessary, we edit images by obscuring sensitive content.
- Marking interference clearly: As with problematic vocabulary, we always clearly mark any interference in the image collections.