Artikel

12/10/19
Colonial Collectors and their Legacy
Why Asking “Why?” Matters
At the time of writing, the conference Museum Collections in Motion lies only weeks in the past and its impacts, its questions and discussions still move me. For all its moments of connection and shared ideals, it was not a harmonious conference. Especially in the beginning, it seemed like mistrust could win over and end […]

12/10/19
The Brachiosaurus brancai in the Natural History Museum Berlin
A Star Exhibit of Natural History as a German and Tanzanian Realm of Memory?
This contribution deals with the area of natural history, a field which to date has remained outside the focus of the research and debates surrounding looted art and the theft of cultural assets and has scarcely featured as a topic in the history of remembrance. The focus here is on a scientific object, the skeleton […]

04/09/19
VOICES FROM THE CONFERENCE 3 – Visions for the future
An Interview with Wandile Kasibe
[Please find our collected voices from day one here and from day two here.] A very moving Day Two begged the question of how to conclude the conference. From our perspective, the question of how to move on, how to end a meeting like this, remained open. We do not know how the momentum of […]

18/08/19
VOICES FROM THE CONFERENCE 2 – Getting to the core
Interviews with Cynthia Schimming and Amber Aranui
[Please find the collected voices from day one here.] Day two of the conference “Museum Collections in Motion” offered an insight into curating practices from different places. Among others, Malick Ndiaye gave a talk on his work as curator for the Theodore Monod Mueseum of African Art in Dakar, Senegal in which he described the […]

01/08/19
VOICES FROM THE CONFERENCE 1 – Are academics asking the right questions?
Interviews with Ulrike Lindner, Ciraj Rassool, Carmela Thiele, and Christian Kopp
The Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne has an impressive entrance hall: the ceiling is so high that it almost feels like being outside. Glass, dark brick stone walls, a shiny stone floor. For three days the museum is hosting the conference ‚Museum Collections in Motion‘ (15-17 July 2019) that promises ‚colonial and postcolonial encounters‘. The organizers are […]

14/07/19
The Crisis of Anthropological Museums from the Perspective of an Anthropology of Museums, and some Remarks on the Agency of Restitution Conceived as a Restitution of Agency
(July 2019) (1.) Apart from royal societies and their art, f.i. Benin Bronze sculptures, most African ritual objects were not preserved for eternity or for permanent preservation, but were made for their cyclical reproduction and renewal in new artefacts. Once objects fell out of ritual use or were damaged by use, they were destroyed or […]

14/07/19
BENIN BRONZES
SOMETHING GRAVE HAPPENED AND IMPERIAL RULE OF LAW IS SUSTAINING IT!
In 1897 a great tragedy befell the kingdom of Benin when a British punitive expedition looted the treasury of treasures in the royal palace and plundered artefacts including those of great spirituality to the Bini people. Benin kingdom is now part of Nigeria and since Independence in 1960 Nigeria and also the Benin Royal Court […]

08/07/19
Tribal Displays: Colonial Repositories and Community Reconciliation
The practices of a new museology have recently raised debates involving public forums and dialogues. However, these transformation processes have also sought to rethink museum practices in remaking persons and remaking society. The practice of displaying ethnic groups in the museum builds on the debates of decolonising museums especially of those having ethnographic artefacts. Having […]

16/06/19
Wenn jemand seine Meinung ändert – eine aktivistische Perspektive auf das Kurzzeitgedächtnis des Humboldt-Forums
Es ist unübersehbar, dass sich in der Diskussion um das Humboldt-Forum über die letzten Jahre einiges, wenn nicht gar Grundsätzliches verschoben hat. Am augenfälligsten wird dies in der Gegenüberstellung zweier Zitate von Hermann Parzinger, Präsident der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, die klingen, als kämen sie aus unterschiedlichen Zeitaltern. Noch vor der Grundsteinlegung des Humboldt-Forums im rekonstruierten […]

11/06/19
Hinter den Spiegeln (Auszug)
Aus einem ethnologischen Museum…
Fotoessay als pdf prolog-ausstellung.info Anja Nitz is a Berlin based artist and photographer. Born in Hamburg (1971) she studied at Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee. In her work she deals with socially relevant institutions and she conceptually potrays the related buildings. Among others she has worked on the Berlin Charité Hospital and several important Berlin Embassies, the […]