Invitation to the „Kolloquium Provenienzforschung“
Von Tim SchweigertThe German Lost Art Foundation cordially invites you to the next event in the series “Kolloquium Provenienzforschung”.
On Monday, 14.07.2025, at 6 pm, we are pleased to present the Working Paper “Missionary Societies and Religious Orders in German Colonies and Their Contribution to Ethnographic Collections” by Jan Hüsgen (Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste).
This presentation sheds light on the complex entanglements between Christian missions and the appropriation of cultural objects during German colonial rule. Missionary actors, often underestimated in provenance research, played a significant role in the transfer of artifacts into European museum collections – not merely as intermediaries, but as powerful actors of cultural translation and appropriation.
Based on the current need for research regarding the acquisitions for missionary collections and ethnological museums, the aim of the newly released Working Paper is to provide an actual overview of those missionary societies and missionary orders that were active in German colonial territories.
The talk outlines both the structures of various missionary societies across the former German colonies in Africa, Oceania, and Asia, and examines their networks, motivations and legacies. For illustration, special attention will be given to the cases of West Africa and Oceania as well as current debates on transparency and accountability in museum practices. Information on archives is intended to facilitate provenance research on theses specific collections.
Dr. Ohiniko Mawussé Toffa (Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin) will contextualize the Working Paper in the current debate on collections of missionary societies.
The event will be moderated by Isabella Bozsa (Museum der Kulturen Basel).
The event will take place as a video conference via Webex. Participation is free of charge, but only possible after registration by 11 July 2025. Participants will receive their access data on the day of the event.
The Working Paper “Missionary Societies and Religious Orders in German Colonies and Their Contribution to Ethnographic Collections” is published on: https://doi.org/10.25360/01-2025-00046
We look forward to your participation!
Registrations to:
German Lost Art Foundation
Tim Schweigert
Seydelstraße 18, 10117 Berlin
tim.schweigert@kulturgutverluste.de
With your registration and participation, you allow the organizer to record the event and to use it for public relations and documentation (§ 22 KunstUrhG). The organizer collects, processes and uses your personal data within the scope of performing the statutory task of the German Lost Art Foundation.
