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On 11 April 2024, a large-scale exhibition will open at the National Art Gallery of Namibia in Windhoek, focusing on 23 objects that were formerly part of the collection of the Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage.

These are historical everyday objects, jewellery, tools and fashion. The objects were selected by a group of Namibian experts on the basis of their particular historical, cultural and aesthetic significance. This took place over the course of several years in close collaboration with scholars from the Berlin collection. Since June 2022, the objects have been researched in Namibia by local artists and scientists. The results of this research will be presented in the exhibition "Reconnecting With Returned Cultural Belongings" at the National Art Gallery of Namibia in Windhoek until 18 May 2024.

In the run-up to the opening, Lars-Christian Koch, Director of the Ethnological Museum and Museum of Asian Art or SPK, and Boyson Ngondo, Deputy Director of the Department of Heritage and Culture of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture of the Republic of Namibia, signed the contract on the transfer of ownership of the 23 objects to Namibia.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, summarises: "Around two years ago, we sent these 23 objects from Berlin on their journey to Windhoek. Even then it was clear that they should stay there forever because of their outstanding importance for Namibia's culture and history. The signing of the contract on the transfer of ownership is an important step, but even more important is what has been created over the past two years as part of this trusting co-operation. I very much hope that the exhibition will be seen by as many people as possible and I am looking forward to its impact."

Exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Namibia

In addition to the 23 transferred objects from the Berlin collection, the exhibition presents works by Namibian artists Betty Tuauoovisioua Katuuo, Keith Vries, Nesindano Namises, Prince Kamaazengi Marenga, Fallone Tambwe and Vitjitua Ndjiharine. Over the past few months, they have worked with Namibian community researchers Munu Godfrey Kuyonisa, Immanuel Xamro !Keib, Ngombe Ngarerue, Iyaloo Moshana, Tamace Rabbie, Riana Vries and Bonifasius Mushongo to investigate the meaning, origin and history of the objects. The project also includes work by photographer Willem Vrey and filmmaker Joe Vision Production, both local specialists in their field.

Working closely with their research partners, the artists have created new works in a variety of artistic media - from poetry to performance to sculpture - which are now being exhibited in dialogue with the historical museum collections. Together, all participants sought to reactivate knowledge and understanding of the objects, addressing and redressing the silences and gaps in Namibia's historiography and cultural heritage resulting from the colonisation of the country by the German Empire (1884-1915) and South Africa (1915-1990).

The exhibition was created as part of the Heinrich Böll Foundation co-financed project "Artistic Research Communal Knowledge: Building Trust for a Better Future", a sub-project of the research cooperation "Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures" between the Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin and the Museums Association of Namibia, which has been funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation since 2019.

Following the exhibition, the participating project partners will reflect on the cooperative research, exhibition and restitution process in a joint anthology.

Project "Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures"

Since 2019, the cooperation project funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation has been tapping into the creative potential of the collections from Namibia held at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin and the National Museum of Namibia in Windhoek. As one of the first long-term, cooperative and sustainable restitution projects, it creates the opportunity to embed the restituted cultural artefacts in Namibian artistic creation and communal knowledge. It reconnects the collections with each other and with their communities of origin, with researchers, artists and the public in Namibia. The project also supported the establishment of a new museum - The Museum of Namibian Fashion - in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, which has become a centre of the Namibian fashion scene since June 2022. The combination of the critical reappraisal of the colonial-historical links between the collections in Berlin and Windhoek with the creative reinterpretation of the collections makes the project exemplary.

The Namibia collection of the Ethnological Museum

The historical collections from Namibia at the Ethnological Museum were largely acquired during the German colonial period (1884-1919). Their provenances have been researched since the beginning of 2018, since 2019 together with Namibian partners. The collections reflect colonial appropriation processes, some of which were extremely violent. They also show the creativity and ingenuity of the people of Namibia. They are therefore an important source for historical research and serve as inspiration for artists and designers. Due to the German colonisation of Namibia, the vast majority of such objects are located in German and non-Namibian institutions and are therefore not accessible to most Namibians. The project, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, is a first step towards redressing this imbalance. The reconnection of the objects with knowledge producers in Namibia will enable a self-determined historiography from Namibian perspectives and a revitalisation of Namibian cultural heritage.

Further information:

Basic positions of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation on the appropriate handling of non-European objects: https://www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/schwerpunkte/provenienzforschung-und-eigentumsfragen/umgang-mit-aussereuropaeischen-objekten.html

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