Over the last 100 years, the Torres Strait Islanders in far north Aus­tralia have been the sub­ject of many anthro­po­log­i­cal expe­di­tions. The result­ing deple­tion of their cul­tur­al arte­facts has left … read more

Resti­tu­tion - What belongs to whom?
in German language

with Prof. Dr. Albert Gouaf­fo, Dr. Anette Rein, Tina Brüderlin

The cur­rent dis­cus­sions about the resti­tu­tion of arti­facts from colo­nial eras focus only on whether an object has been appro­pri­at­ed in a war sit­u­a­tion, due to struc­tur­al vio­lence, or whether it was acquired legit­i­mate­ly. This legal debate also works with Euro­cen­tric cat­e­gories that ignore both the orig­i­nal con­text as well as the cur­rent sit­u­a­tion in the place of origin and do not take the actual objects and their mean­ings into account. We will explore this topic by con­sid­er­ing the deci­sive legit­i­mate demands of the cul­tures of origin.

Prof. Dr. Albert Gouaf­fo ist Uni­ver­sität­spro­fes­sor für ger­man­is­tis­che Lit­er­atur- und Kul­tur­wis­senschaft sowie interkul­turelle Kom­mu­nika­tion Afrika – Deutsch­land – Frankre­ich an der Uni­ver­sität de Dschang, West­kamerun. Seine Forschungss­chw­er­punk­te sind Kolo­nialgeschichte, Postkolo­nial­is­mus und Gedächt­nis­stu­di­en. Er ist Mither­aus­ge­ber der Zeitschrift Mont Camer­oun - Afrikanis­che Zeitschrift für interkul­turelle Stu­di­en zum deutschsprachi­gen Raum. Er ist Mit­glied des Förder­beirats „kolo­niale Kon­texte“ am Deutschen Zen­trum Kul­turgutver­luste in Magdeburg.

Dr. Anette Rein ist Fachjour­nal­istin für Museum Aktuell und Expo­time!, Vor­sitzende des Bun­desver­band freiberu­flich­er Ethnolog*innen e.V., war im Vor­stand des Inter­na­tion­al Com­mit­tee for Muse­ums and Col­lec­tions of Ethnog­ra­phy und 2000 - 2008 Direk­torin des Frank­furter Muse­ums der Weltkul­turen. 2008 trat sie von ihrem Amt zurück. Während Rein das Museum als Forum der inter- und tran­skul­turellen Begeg­nung begriff, forderte das Kul­tur­dez­er­nat der Stadt eine stärkere Konzen­tra­tion auf die Ausstel­lung von Objek­ten aus dem Fundus.

Tina Brüder­lin ist Lei­t­erin der Eth­nol­o­gis­chen Samm­lung am Museum Natur und Mensch, Freiburg, die aktuell dig­i­tal­isiert und online zur Ver­fü­gung gestellt wird. Davor war sie in der Abteilung Anthro­pol­o­gy am Amer­i­can Museum of Nat­ur­al His­to­ry, New York. Sie hat zu materieller Kultur in Äthiopi­en und in Nor­dameri­ka publiziert.

For decades, Swiss trav­eller and film­mak­er René Gardi (1909-2000) explained the African con­ti­nent and its inhab­i­tants to us. In books, tele­vi­sion pro­grams and films, he waxed poetic about the beau­ti­ful … read more

A house gives us a sense of belong­ing. It envelops us and pro­tects us. It is a symbol of the time, the cul­ture, and the beings that it inhab­its. A … read more

Nes­tled in the Himalayan range in Uttarak­hand, India, the town of Kalap may soon have a road suit­able for motor­ized vehi­cles. Until then, the vil­lage con­tin­ues to be 10-kilo­me­ter walk … read more

On the eve of the post­poned Con­golese elec­tions, two Con­golese and two Bel­gian cineasts are col­lab­o­rat­ing on a film about Kin­shasa and its resis­tance against the lega­cies of colo­nial­ism. The … read more

The indus­tri­al city of Sisak, which is one of the oldest set­tle­ments in the region south of the Croa­t­ian metrop­o­lis of Zagreb, is the director’s home­town and is locat­ed where … read more

A busy train full of pas­sen­gers rolls through Tan­za­nia from the capi­tol to the provinces for three long days and nights. In third class, we meet a charis­mat­ic Masai named … read more