Close Cooperation with Colombia

News from 09/16/2022

The SPK and the Colombian Embassy have begun discussions on two important masks of the Kogi indigenous people

The Ethnologisches Museum (Ethnological Museum) of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin) holds two masks of the indigenous Kogi people from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in Colombia. These are items associated with native rituals and even today they have sacred significance for the Kogi, who call themselves the Kágaba people, which means “jaguar” in the Kogi language. Because of the special significance of these objects, the SPK and the Embassy of Colombia have begun holding talks on the subject in Germany.

In addition to the masks, the discussions have focused on a memorandum of understanding concerning the preservation of archaeological objects in German museums, scientific studies of Colombian collections in Germany and joint research into pre-Columbian gold-working practices. As part of its residency program for the year 2023, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin will also set up a cooperative project with Colombia that concentrates on objects from the San Agustín culture and related objects held in Berlin collections and on the archaeological and historical study of pre-Columbian gold objects in the Ethnologisches Museum.

SPK President Hermann Parzinger commented: “For a few years now, we have been in contact with representatives of the indigenous organization Gonavindúa Tayrona and the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH), and recently, Colombia requested the return of the two masks. I hope that we will soon have the remaining questions settled in the interest of finding an appropriate solution for Colombia and the Kogi, which I will then present to the committees of the Foundation promptly thereafter, since the final decision on the matter must be taken by the Foundation Board of the SPK. I look forward to working together more closely in other areas, too.”

Press release

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