The TRANSMAT project team has published a special supplement to the journal História, Ciências, Saúde — Manguinhos, edited by Elisabete Pereira, Catarina Simões and Quintino Lopes, on the theme ‘Colonial and post-colonial collections in Portugal: reconstructing trajectories and rethinking narratives’ (Vol. 32, Suppl. 1, 2025). The volume is the result of the first international conference organised by the TRANSMAT project in 2023, in partnership with the National Museum of Ethnology, which stood out for its pioneering work in Portugal in systematically addressing the provenance and contexts of acquisition of colonial objects.

As the editors explain, the collected texts ‘show the growing attention that has been paid in recent years to the need to revisit, question and reinterpret the colonial legacies present in Portugal’s museums and scientific institutions. The texts reflect work being carried out on the legacy of various Portuguese institutions (such as the National Museum of Natural History and Science, the Santos Rocha Municipal Museum, the National Museum of Archaeology and the University of Porto’s Museum of Natural History and Science), showing how in many cases their collections were shaped by the dynamics of occupation, proselytisation, trade and colonial domination.’

In addition, the editors also wanted to ‘highlight studies currently underway on collections obtained in territories ruled by the Portuguese through missionary activities, and how research on the way these collections arrived at these institutions and the power networks associated with their creation allows us to uncover their origins, their contexts of acquisition, and the permanence of Eurocentric discourses.’ All articles are available in open access and can be read or downloaded from the journal’s website.