Museum Interventions

INTRODUCTION

Since the voyages of discovery of European adventurers, traders, missionaries and scientists, numerous nations established trading and colonial possessions on other continents between the 15th and 19th centuries. In addition to raw materials, numerous material cultural assets were transferred to private and public collections or were sold. The circumstances of the acquisition played a minor role at the time of collecting.

The teaching collection created by the Missionary Benedictines of St. Ottilien between 1887 and the 1950s served to illustrate the living environment in the mission areas for prospective missionaries (and since 1911 also for visitors). With over 5,000 objects, the mission museum is one of the most extensive missionary collections in Germany. This special form of cultural-historical special museums differs from ethnological museums in important ways.

The collection was of great importance from the beginning of the missionary activity; the monastery management attached great importance to inculturation, and only through understanding all aspects of everyday life, language, religion and living space - including fauna and flora - was an encounter at eye level possible. For this reason, the regionally arranged presentation was retained during the renovation (2011-2015).

We are aware of the historical responsibility that comes with the collected cultural heritage. As a non-governmental museum that has been run in accordance with the guidelines of the German Museum Association and ICOM since 2015, we are guided by the work of ethnological museums and other institutions with which we network internationally. We are a member of a working group at the German Lost Art Foundation (DZK) on missionary collections.

Cultural Assets from a Colonial Context

From 2018 onwards, the discussion about the return of cultural assets, which has been going on since the 1960s, has become the focus of scientific and public interest. As early as 2019, the German Cultural Council called in a statement for churches to be included in the debate about collections from colonial contexts.

The Mission Museum, as one of the approximately 80 missionary collections in Germany, is, following the example of ethnological museums, encouraged to carry out provenance research on cultural assets from colonial contexts.

According to the definition, "acquired in a colonial context" includes not only objects from protected areas of the German Empire until 1918. Cultural assets from areas that were under the mandate of other nations during the activities of the Benedictine mission, such as Tanganyika (mandatory territory of German East Africa taken over by Great Britain after the First World War), South Africa (Great Britain) and Korea (Japan, USA / Soviet Union) fall under one of the categories of colonial contexts defined by the German Museum Association.

This means that at least 80% of the collection in the mission museum is considered to be "acquired in a colonial context". However, this fact does not per se mean that provenance is problematic or that a return is necessary. The categorization is merely an indication that suggests a careful examination of the object with regard to its provenance.

Interventions

We have decided to expand the permanent exhibition of the Mission Museum with a few interventions that show our visitors the status of provenance research and returns that have already taken place, but also shed light on further steps in decolonization:

The role of the missionaries and their involvement with the respective colonial regime, dealing with the gaps resulting from the documentation, including the source communities, dealing with sensitive objects, etc.

We see our objects as "cultural ambassadors" and part of humanity’s cultural memory, which we manage in trust. At the same time, we are aware of the historical responsibility towards the testimonies of lived culture, which were produced with great artistry and always include a religious dimension.

The interventions and in-depth texts on our website show how we want to continue to move forward in the future in addition to the "classic" museum tasks: by expanding and deepening our existing contacts and cooperation with communities of origin in order to learn from the descendants of the makers of our objects and to involve them in the concept of the presentation.

We have therefore placed the interventions in the museum under the symbol of "Sankofa", a spiritual concept of the Akan ethnic group living in Ghana and Ivory Coast. Literally, Sankofa (pronounced Sáhnkofa) means "to go back to get something".

Sankofa is depicted as a mythological bird with its head turned backwards as it strides forward. He catches an egg in his beak over his back.

In collaboration with the communities of origin, we take a look at the past of our objects in order to learn from it and use this knowledge to shape the future together.

Interventions:

INTRODUCTION

Cultural Assets from a Colonial Context

Interventions

Influences of Mission on indigenous communities / Changes in the Mission Concept

Entanglements – Mission and Colonialism

Provenance research

Returns