2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

The Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin holds two masks from the indigenous Kogi (also known as Kogui) community from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia. They were acquired for the museum by Konrad Theodor Preuss in 1915 as part of a research trip. As they are objects with a ritual background and still have great sacred significance for the Kogi today, the SPK has decided to return them. The masks will be handed over at an event open to the press during the visit of Colombian President Gustavo Petro Urrego to Federal President Steinmeier on 16 June at 1 p.m. in Schloss Bellevue in Berlin (bilingual livestream at www.bundespräsident.de).

Hermann Parzinger, President of the SPK:"Because of their special, almost unique background, the return of the masks is the right solution, which we have arrived at after careful consideration. We have been in contact with representatives of the indigenous organisation Gonavindúa Tayrona and the ICANH (Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia) for several years, and in 2022 Colombia finally made an official request for their return. In accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of September 2007 and taking into account the inalienability of the masks, which have special religious and ceremonial significance for the Kogi community, the SPK Foundation Board has now decided that they should be restituted."

Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and the Media: "The ritual masks are an important part of Colombia's cultural heritage and are inextricably linked to the Kogi people. They do not belong here and it is therefore all the more pleasing that they can now return to their places of origin. The fact that President Gustavo Petro and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier are providing high-ranking support for this restitution emphasises our shared desire to help the traditions, customs and spiritual heritage of the Kogi to find their rightful place."

Álvaro Leyva Durán, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Colombia:"After more than a hundred years, two objects sacred to the Kogui people are returning to Colombia, to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. This milestone and future returns of pieces belonging to the cultural heritage of the indigenous people and the Colombian nation open the doors to deepening scientific relations between our nations, always recognising respect for the worldview and knowledge of the indigenous people as a paramount value."

Ambassador Yadir Salazar-Mejía: "We honour the wisdom and patience of the Kogui people, who have never given up. The intensive and always constructive dialogue that we have maintained with the SPK on the part of the Embassy has now led to this memorable day, on which two heads of state from two friendly countries, Colombia and Germany, are present."

The significance of the masks

Among the Kogi, whose self-designation is Kágaba, masks like the ones now returned were always made to mark the founding of a temple. They were intended to be used ritually in dances and songs. According to the religious beliefs of the Kogi, this serves spiritual healing, the preservation of the social fabric and the well-being of their own people and the entire world. Only a mama, a Kogi priest, is authorised to handle the masks. As they are intended to remain permanently in the sacred place and can only be passed on from generation to generation of Mamas, it was and is not permitted to acquire them.

The masks represent mythical ancestors and natural phenomena and, according to the Kogi, allow the wearer to take on their perspective. The wearer gains insight into the world of mythical ancestors and forces of nature, which are seen as human beings through the respective mask. Conversely, as he is seen by them with the mask as their equal, he can act like a mythical being himself and enter into contact with them on behalf of the Kágaba.
The two masks from the Ethnological Museum (V A 62649 and V A 62650) are also particularly significant due to their age: they can be dated to the middle of the 15th century and were therefore made before the Spanish conquest. They are made of wood and are known as "sun masks" (Mama Uakai) and "large sun masks" (Mama Nuikukui Uakai or Malkutše).

Provenance: The Preuss Collection

The two Kogi masks were acquired in 1915 by Konrad Theodor Preuss, ethnologist and curator of the Royal Museum of Ethnology, the predecessor institution of the Ethnological Museum. On a research trip to Colombia between 1913 and 1919, Preuss collected a total of over 700 objects, of which around 440 are still preserved in the Ethnological Museum. The rest were lost during the war. At the centre of his research, however, was an examination of the oral traditions of the peoples he visited.
Preuss also spent several months with the Kágaba as part of the journey. In collaboration with several Mamas, he recorded myths and songs in the Kágaba language (kougian) and published them with a translation in 1926. He also amassed a small collection of Kogi artefacts, around 80 of which are still preserved today. Preuß acquired the two masks from the heir of a deceased Mama, "thanks to a favourable opportunity", as he wrote in his book "Forschungsreise zu den Kágaba" (1926). He was not aware of the age or the inalienability of the masks.

More about Konrad Theodor Preuss in a virtual exhibition in the DDB: ausstellungen.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/preuss/

Press photos:
www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/newsroom/presse/pressebilder.html