Der Kolonialismus in den Dingen
In the organizer's words:
"When is a work of art colonial?" The special exhibition Colonialism in Things is dedicated to this and other questions. It shows unique historical testimonies, such as sculptures, paintings, bronze casts or lacquer works, which were brought to Munich during the colonial era and are often considered masterpieces today. It documents how these objects were looted, bought, exchanged or accepted as gifts in European-ruled colonial territories in Cameroon, Tanzania, Nigeria, Namibia, India, Pakistan, China, New Guinea, the Philippines and Samoa. The exhibition exposes the violence, racism and attempts to suppress the cultures of the colonized. Because all of this went hand in hand with colonial appropriation.
The Museum Fünf Kontinente was founded in 1868, almost 20 years before the beginning of German colonial rule. However, the museum was already accepting cultural property from the colonies of other European states at that time. Around 1900, it became an institution of German colonialism: a colonial conqueror became the museum director. Trophies from colonial campaigns were presented, brutal violence was dressed up as heroic deeds and outstanding cultural products were degraded to evidence of supposed European superiority. The people who had created the works, who knew how to interpret them and whose cultures were passed on through them, were forgotten.
In more recent times, the appreciation of the "art of the world" has increased considerably. At the same time, the memory of the violence of colonialism has faded. The Museum Fünf Kontinente is currently in transition. Documenting colonialism in objects and the colonial history of the museum in a synopsis is a building block of change. This lives from critical impulses from civil society and from cooperation with experts from the societies of origin of the collections preserved in the museum today. Their perspectives are given ample space in the exhibition. Their knowledge of the cultural contexts from which the works originate allows us to understand the richness of their meanings, but also the loss and traumas of the colonial era.
More information about the exhibition can be found on the museum's website.
Events as part of the program accompanying the special exhibition can be found in the program overview.
This content has been machine translated.Location
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