For decades there has been little progress in coming to terms with the colonial past in German museums. The debate about the Benin bronzes has brought new momentum. But there is much more to it.
Museums in Germany are on the threshold of a new way of dealing with looted property and cultural objects from a colonial past.
Those responsible in the houses and political decision-makers make this clear in discussions with the German Press Agency. The focus will initially be on the retransfer of the ownership rights to the Benin bronzes, which is planned for this year.
Around 1100 of the ornate bronzes from the palace of the then Kingdom of Benin, which today belongs to Nigeria, can be found in around 20 German museums. Most of the objects come from the British looting in 1897. The aim of the Federal Government is to return substantial amounts this year, initially from the five largest holdings.
White spot in the culture of remembrance
Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth also wants to bring together all German museums with such objects in January. Roth sees “a blank spot in our culture of remembrance. These are the issues of colonialism and decolonization. “
The President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Hermann Parzinger, expects the transfer back to have an impact on new international cooperation. “We have agreed with the Nigerian side that art from Benin can continue to be shown in Berlin and in other German museums,” said Parzinger of the dpa in Berlin. “This would then also be a sustainable model on the one hand for coming to terms with colonial injustice and on the other hand for a new way of living together, which should continue to enable the circulation of world art.”
“The talks about the Benin bronzes have gained a new intensity in the past few months,” said Parzinger, who is himself involved in the negotiations. What will go back and which objects could be shown on loan will have to be discussed in detail. “We would like to show objects that give a representative cross-section of the art of Benin.”
Parzinger suggested an international agreement in which “the European states, together with their countries of origin, agree more fundamentally on the question of how to deal with cultural goods from colonial contexts.” It is not just about the return in clear contexts of injustice. “In exceptional cases, fair and just solutions could also affect objects without a demonstrable context of injustice if they are of particular importance for the identity of societies of origin.”
It’s about more than just the Benin bronzes
The new chairman of the Conference of Ministers of Culture of the Federal States, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Culture Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen, pleaded for openness. “First of all, everything has to be on the table,” said the non-party minister of the dpa in Berlin. A digital platform has been activated for this. “This process must be continued: educate, find contacts – especially with art in a colonial context, it is important to identify the right partners to whom something can be returned.”
“If we have followed an example with the Benin bronzes, that could speed up the entire process,” said Pfeiffer-Poensgen. This could “also be a blueprint for other projects of this kind”.
For Baden-Württemberg’s Art Minister Theresia Bauer, it is not about starting a race for as many returned cultural goods as possible. It is also not the aim to “empty our museums”, said the Green Minister of the dpa in Stuttgart. “The aim is rather that we get a new relationship overall with things that have landed in our museums from problematic contexts and that we proceed with greater sensitivity when purchasing or exhibiting objects.”
For Bauer, this means that precisely where collection items have been wrongly acquired, these are returned in dialogue with the countries of origin. “And the closer problems of unethical behavior get to the present, the more urgent this becomes,” she emphasized. «This is not a topic from the day before yesterday, it is very topical. Wars are still taking place today and looted goods are traded on the art markets today. “
Readiness for restitution
The general director of the Berlin Humboldt Forum, Hartmut Dorgerloh, warned against false expectations. “Even with restitutions, our time standards do not apply,” said Dorgerloh of the dpa in Berlin. “Sometimes there can be years between decisions and their actual implementation. Partnership then means getting involved in other time constraints and other processes. “
In Germany it is important to send a clear signal and to declare the unmistakable readiness that restitution is to take place. “If you are serious about giving up interpretation and decision-making sovereignty, then here in Europe we cannot decide on our own how, when and under what conditions returns are made. And there the spectrum of possibilities is wide, from loans in the local museums to digital restitution, to the exchange with other objects up to the circulation. “
For Berlin’s Senator for Culture, Klaus Lederer, the return must not become a “question of a sale of indulgences”. “It’s not about returning selected collector’s items with a big symbolic gesture and then ticking the box,” said the left-wing politician of the dpa in Berlin. One also has to talk about post-colonial, global relations, unjust world trade and continued exploitation in the present, which can also be traced back to colonial roots. It is about migratory movements across the globe, about equal opportunities in global participation in resources and prosperity.
The decisive factor is not where which cultural asset is located at what point in time, “but whether it is recognized that cultural assets from other contexts have been brought here under power relations that can be described as at least undemocratic”. Lederer: “That does not mean that the depots here will be emptied and our museums will be empty in the future, nor that we will just ship everything back overnight without batting an eyelid.”