Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig: REINVENTING GRASSI.SKD

REINVENTING GRASSI.SKD

Through our Future Program REINVENTING GRASSI. SKD, funded by the “Initiative for Ethnological Collections” of the German Federal Cultural Foundation, we will be redesigning our museum in the upcoming years extensively. Step by step, we want to transform ourselves into a Network Museum in which different voices have the opportunity to speak and different regions have the ability to connect with each other. Together, we will be casting critical perspectives on the ethnological collections, their acquisition, and exhibition history.

With the fourth partial opening the GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig will provide new insights into its ongoing transformation.

Exhibition Site GRASSI Museum Leipzig

Opening Hours daily 10—18, Monday closed

Admission Fees admission free

The sound panorama Winds of Change - Sound Stories from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands deals with environmental pollution, climate disasters, and the effects of tourist mega-projects on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean. For this project, ethnomusicologist Rolf Killius teamed up with Prince Rashid Yusoof, Prince of Nancowry Island, to collect sounds, interviews, and encounters on the islands. The presentation combines objects in the museum’s collection with contemporary voices and perspectives. It also focuses on the origin of the objects and their relevance for further collaborative research.

REINVENTING GRASSI.SKD | Teileröffnung III im GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig (eng. UT)

In the temporary large objects room, photographer Mark De Fraeye presents his project Witness of Time. With his work, he searches for new ways of expression in an ethnological context. Over the course of thirty years, De Fraeye has traveled to many countries around the world specifically for this purpose.

The idea of the network museum takes center stage in the Bonvenon, a new game room that is free of charge to visitors. In the middle of the museum, a third space has been created to enable networking and the exchange of ideas. The concept was developed in close collaboration with students of the Master Art Education, Curatorial Studies degree program at the Zurich University of the Arts, under the direction of Prof. Angeli Sachs. Visitors can browse through books or try out various games in the museum’s living room. In the pub Weißes Roß (“White Horse”), one can hear stories about past rounds of the “Doppelkopf” card game and of regulars' tables back from the GDR era up to the present day. The stage provides a venue for diverse programs and events. The studio offers space for creative projects as well as room to work.

Mann und Frau stehen hinter einem Kneipen-Tresen — **Bonvenon, Kneipenwirt Thomas Nagel und Direktorin Léontine Meijer-van Mensch im "Weißen Roß"**

In light of recent developments regarding the transfer of ownership of the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, the GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig is seeking new possibilities for collaboration with Nigerian partners. Therefore, we have invited the artist and curator Enotie Paul Ogbebor to draw inspiration from objects in the museum. Currently, the museum is showing an initial presentation of the Benin Bronzes together with Ogbebor's works. Together, they address the following questions: What forms of exchange are possible in the future? How and where will the Benin Bronzes be presented hereafter?

dunkelhäutiger Künstler steht hinter Glasvitrine, in der eine Benin-Bronze ist — **Künstler und Kurator Enotie Paul Ogbebor mit seinem Projekt zu den Benin-Bronzen**

**Bonvenon - eintrittsfreier Spielraum**

**Fermentieren: Perspektiven auf Osten, Projekt von Teilnehmenden des Masterstudiengangs „Kulturen des Kuratorischen“ der HGB**

**Projekt des Künstlers und Kurators Enotie Paul Ogbebor zu den Benin-Bronzen**

**“Winds of Change – Klanggeschichten von den Andaman & Nicobar Islands“, Sound-Panorama von Rolf Killius und Prince Rashid Yusoof**

**Fotoprojekt „Witness of Time“ von Mark De Fraeye**

Building on their intervention "Erfrischungsraum 2" (Refreshment Room 2) at the OSTEN cultural festival in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, participants in the master's program "Kulturen des Kuratorischen" (“Curatorial Cultures”) at the Hochschule für Grafik & Buchkunst Leipzig (Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts) will present an exhibition in our “Rapid Responses" section. Under the title Fermenting: Perspectives on the East, they pose questions about what "East" can mean today and how those attributions can be continuously changed. With an exhibition featuring a concrete-sealed bar cellar, rice wine, and pickled cucumbers, the group works with the overarching concept of fermentation as a metaphor for approaching history.

As part of a UNESCO-funded tandem project of the organization kulturweit, the two tandem participants, Serge Ndakebuka and Rhea Daraboš, have designed a Rapid Response with the title “Neocolonial exclusion instead of international cooperation?”

REINVENTING GRASSI.SKD 3

Winds of Change

lächelnder Mann mit verschränkten Armen vor runder Installation

REINVENTING GRASSI.SKD 3

Bonvenon

REINVENTING GRASSI.SKD 3

Witness of Time

REINVENTING GRASSI.SKD 3

Presentation of the Benin Bronzes with works by Enotie Ogbebor

REINVENTING GRASSI.SKD 3

Fermenting: Perspectives on "East"

After the delay, we will be presenting the first part in spring 2022, which addresses the museum’s founding networks, collections, and current debates about restitution. In addition, you will also be able to visit our “Backstage” section, where we reflect on our handling of objects and archives while allowing ourselves to be challenged by invited curators. Until then, we will also be working with young adults on post-colonial perspectives for the future, as well as testing robots for an enhanced visitor experience and rebuilding the exhibition spaces step by step for an improved design and look to our museum.