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  3. Decolonizing German and European History at the Museum

Decolonizing German and European History at the Museum

Katrin Sieg
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  • Overview

  • Contents

Decolonizing German and European History at the Museum examines efforts by European museums to investigate colonialism as part of an unprocessed past, confront its presence, and urge repair. A flurry of exhibitions and the overhaul of numerous large museums in the last decade signal that an emergent colonial memory culture is now reaching broader publics. Exhibitions pose the question of what Europeans owe to those they colonized.

Decolonizing German and European History at the Museum shows how museums can help visitors mourn historic violence and identify the contemporary agents, beneficiaries, victims, survivors, and resisters of colonial presence. At the same time, the book treats the museum as part of the racialized power relations that activists, academics, and artists have long protested against. This book asks whether museums have made the dream of activists, academics, and artists to build equitable futures more acceptable and more durable—or whether in packaging that dream for general audiences they curtail it. Confronting colonial violence, this book argues, pushes Europeans to face the histories of racism and urges them to envision antiracism at the global scale.

  • Cover
  • Title Page
  • Copyright Page
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • List of Illustrations
  • Contestations
    • 1. Colonial History and Imperial Presence in the Museum
    • 2. Activist Interventions in European Ethnology Museums
    • 3. Encasing Colonialism and Cosmopolitan Citizenship at the German History Museum
    • 4. Confronting a Violent Past, Choreographing Mourning
    • 5. Decolonizing the Metropole
    • 6. Imperial World Order, Elusive Sovereignty
  • Postsovereignty
    • 7. Postcolonial Europe at the House of European History
    • 8. Artists in/against the Museum
    • 9. Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Works Cited
  • Index
Citable Link
Published: 2021
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN(s)
  • 978-0-472-07510-2 (hardcover)
  • 978-0-472-05510-4 (paper)
  • 978-0-472-12958-4 (ebook)
Series
  • Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany
Subject
  • German Studies
  • History:European History

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  • Deutsches Historisches Museum5
  • Anguezomo Mba Bikoro, Nathalie3
  • Héraud-Louisadat, Anaïs3
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  • Amin, Heba Y.1
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Person looking a work of art depicting two black figures kneeling in front of a white figure.

Sans Papiers. Musée de l’Immigration 2010

From Chapter 2

Fig. 1. Sans Papiers. Musée de l’Immigration 2010. With permission by Mathieu Pernot.

Glass-covered cabinet of colonial clothing and objects.

Colonial Vitrine, pre-2013

From Chapter 3

Fig. 2. Colonial Vitrine, pre-2013. With permission by CiB and DHM.

A poster for Deutsches Historisches Museum featuring a photo from the exhibition.

Poster of exhibition German Colonialism: Fragments of its Past and Present

From Chapter 4

Fig. 3. Poster of Exhibition German Colonialism: Fragments of Its Past and Present. With Permission by DHM.

Map of the exhibition space.

Floorplan of exhibition German Colonialism: Fragments of its Past and Present

From Chapter 4

Fig. 4. Floorplan of Exhibition German Colonialism: Fragments of Its Past and Present. With Permission by DHM.

A man on the right examines two open books in a glass-covered case.

A visitor looks at exhibits related to the Herero Massacre during a press preview of the new exhibition: German Colonialism: Fragments of its Past and Present

From Chapter 4

Fig. 5. A visitor looks at exhibits related to the Herero Massacre during a press preview of the new exhibition: German Colonialism: Fragments of Its Past and Present at the German Historical Museum (Deutsches Historisches Museum) on October 13, 2016, in Berlin, Germany. Permission by Getty Images/Carsten Koall.

Three people looking at and handling a book.

Diek Family Foto Album Exhibit

From Chapter 4

Fig. 6. Diek Family Foto Album Exhibit. Curated by Katharina Oguntoye. With permission by DHM.

Two jars of coffee beans set on a stand beside a hanging infographic about coffee.

Coffee installation

From Chapter 6

Fig. 7. Coffee Installation. With Permission by DHM/I. Desnica.

Three people view a screen next to a case of T-shirts.

Installation of Herero Calls for Reparations

From Chapter 6

Fig. 8. Installation of Herero Calls for Reparations. With permission by Larissa Förster.

One person enters the exhibition.

Installation on Decolonization in the exhibition Europe: It’s our History!

From Chapter 7

Fig. 9. Installation on Decolonization in the Exhibition Europe: It’s Our History!

A hallway with glass walls and a glass archway allows the viewer to see items from the exhibition on either side.

Europe: A Global Power

From Chapter 7

Fig. 10. Europe: A Global Power. With permission by House of European History.

A person sits at a desk overflowing with maps. A variety of other maps and papers cover the walls and floor.

The Master's Tools I (restaging of Herman Soergel's portrait), 2018

From Chapter 8

Fig. 11. The Master’s Tools I (restaging of Hermann Sörgel’s portrait), 2018. Courtesy of the artist.

Nine videos in a 3 by 3 array show different political figures’ speeches.

Operation Sunken Sea (the Anti-Control Room)

From Chapter 8

Fig. 12. Operation Sunken Sea (the Anti-Control Room)—Video wall (2018), 9-channel video 37′05″. Courtesy of timoohler.

Black and white photograph of a woman dressed in black. Half of her face is in shadow.

Portrait of Woman as Dictator I, 2018

From Chapter 8

Fig. 13. Portrait of Woman as Dictator I, 2018. Courtesy of the artist.

Illustrations and pieces of text, many of which look aged and damaged, are displayed between clear glass circles.

Jackal Room. Detail from Squat Monument Installation at Museum Schöneberg

From Chapter 8

Fig. 14. Jackal Room. Detail from Squat Monument installation at Museum Schöneberg, 2017. Courtesy of the artists.

White cloth kites hang from the ceiling. Each one shows the face of a different person.

Kites Room. Squat Monument Installation at Museum Schöneberg, 2017

From Chapter 8

Fig. 15. Kites Room. Squat Monument installation at Museum Schöneberg, 2017. Courtesy of the artists.

A white parachute hangs from the ceiling. Projected onto the parachute is an image of a white kite with a person’s face flying in a blue sky.

Parachute Room. Squat Monument Installation at Museum Schöneberg, 2017

From Chapter 8

Fig. 16. Parachute Room. Squat Monument installation at Museum Schöneberg, 2017. Courtesy of the artists.

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