Initial check of collections from colonial contexts (sub-Saharan Africa) in eight museums and collections in Lower Saxony

The joint project involving eight institutions in Lower Saxony aimed to identify and document holdings from sub-Saharan Africa and their possible colonial contexts of origin, thereby identifying further research needs. The institutions examined included the Fehn and Shipping Museum in Westrhauderfehn, the Coastal Museum in Wilhelmshaven, the German Maritime Museum (DMM) in Wilhelmshaven, the Natural History Society of Emden, founded in 1814, the Kunsthalle (Art Gallery) Emden - Henri and Eske Nannen Foundation and Otto van de Loo donation, the East Frisian Tea Museum in Norden, the Goslar Museum and the Nienburg Museum.

Before the project began, the collections to be examined was estimated to comprise 600 objects and 200 items that had not yet been assigned to a specific region. The aim was to review the existing regional and cultural attributions and the known donors for the first time and to examine possible circumstances of acquisition in colonial contexts. It was also necessary to clarify whether the holdings to be examined contained any human remains or secret sacred objects.

As a transparency measure, the Network for Provenance Research in Lower Saxony and the Museums Association of Lower Saxony and Bremen held two workshops at the beginning and end of the project. The kick-off workshop focused on the “initial check” project format. The final workshop discussed the results of the project with representatives of the participating institutions, the German Lost Art Foundation and associations working for migrant societies and decolonization processes, thus broadening the discussion. The contributions made and results discussed during both workshops will be published in open access by the end of 2025 in the series Publications of the Network for Provenance Research in Lower Saxony. Information on the individual donors and the objects from colonial contexts identified or documented in the course of the project will be documented in the PROVEANA and PAESE databases.

In all institutions, objects from colonial contexts were documented, previously unknown contexts were added to individual collection holdings, and isolated gaps in provenance chains were closed. No large-scale unknown holdings were documented in any of the collections. Further research is needed, particularly for the specific “East Frisian collection complex”, which is reflected in a network of pre-colonial and early colonial collectors and primarily comprises the holdings of the Fehn- und Schiffahrtsmuseum Westrhauderfehn (Fehn and East Frisian Maritime Museum in Westrhauderfehn), the Naturforschende Gesellschaft zu Emden von 1814 (Emden Natural History Society of 1814) and the Ostfriesisches Teemuseum Norden (East Frisian Tea Museum in Norden). A follow-up project based on the results and traces found so far would provide insights into an early, unexplored period of ethnographic collecting in rural East Frisia in the second half of the 19th century, in which a wide variety of social classes were involved. The preliminary results provide the participating museums and collections with initial approaches to reappraising their colonial collection history, which will be pursued in subsequent projects and initiatives.

The Museumsverband für Niedersachsen und Bremen e. V. (Museums Association for Lower Saxony and Bremen) is an association representing the interests of museums in Lower Saxony and Bremen. According to its own description, its most important task is “the qualification and networking of museums”, i.e. primarily supporting museums in their “work and further development” through “consulting, further training, expert opinions [and] statements”. The association offers a wide range of training courses and has developed a museum certification system with a corresponding museum seal of approval: “The MVNB is the point of contact for all museum-related questions for the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture, the Senator for Culture in Bremen, the cultural foundations, the regional associations and local authorities.”

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