Foundation Board clears the way for the return of the Ngonnso' to Cameroon
Press release from 06/27/2022
Parzinger: Object is regarded by the Nso' as a mother deity and has great spiritual significance for the society of origin
At its meeting today, the Board of Trustees of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz authorised SPK President Hermann Parzinger to conclude an agreement with the relevant authorities in Cameroon on the repatriation of the so-called Ngonnso'.
The female figure known as Ngonnso' comes from the historical kingdom of Nso' in north-west Cameroon and was donated to the collection of the Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin in 1903 by the colonial officer Kurt von Pavel.
After several years of contact with representatives of the Nso' and the government of Cameroon, the exchange intensified last year, partly through the mediation of Ms Sylvie Njobati from the civil society initiative "Bring Back Ngonnso'". In December 2021, representatives of the Ngonnso' community in Cameroon and Germany, museum representatives and academics from Germany exchanged views on the provenance history and significance of the Ngonnso' for the Ngonnso'. They jointly established that the Ngonnso' was not removed from Kumbo, the capital of the kingdom of Nso', as a result of looting during the war. However, von Pavel's stay in Kumbo was an expression of unequal power relations and structural, colonial violence, even without concrete acts of war, because he was accompanied by soldiers and armed porters and was intended to have an intimidating effect on the Nso'. In addition, the Ngonnso' has a central role for the Nso', as she is regarded as a mother deity. Due to these circumstances, the Board of Trustees has followed the President's recommendation to initiate the return of the statue.
SPK President Parzinger welcomed the decision: "The decision makes it clear that the question of returning collection items from colonial contexts is not solely dependent on a context of injustice. The special - above all spiritual - significance of an object for the society of origin can also justify its return. We will now work with the Republic of Cameroon and the representatives of the Nso' to organise the restitution process."