Cooperation with experts and activists from Tanzania: Ancestral Remains and Objects from the Kilimanjaro Region

The collections from Tanzania at the State Ethnographic Collections Saxony (SES) contain besides some contemporary pieces of modern Tingatinga painting and Makonde sculptures from the second half of the 20th century, largely objects, which were appropriated during colonial time. This cultural heritage was obtained by the ethnographic museums in Leipzig, Dresden and Herrnhut mainly through persons, which were working in different positions within the colonial administration, for example as part of the military forces in former German East Africa.  In addition to these objects, also seven ancestral remains from Tanzania are part of the anthropological collection at the SES. The ancestors are attributed to the communities of the Wachagga and Dorobbo from the Kilimanjaro region, as well as the designations Wagogo and Galla. The latter designations entail three ancestral remains, which came to the Dresden Ethnographic Museum via the Ethnographic Museum Rostock. 

2019 wurden

In 2019 initial contact was made with Mnyaka Sururu Mboro. Subsequently provenance research on the ancestral remains was done by Isabelle Reimann, Ulrike Kirsch and Mnyaka Sururu Mboro. The collaboration furthermore entails the collaborative project „Marejesho asili mila utamaduni wetu“ together with Old Moshi Cultural Tourism, Flinn Works and Berlin Postkolonial e.V.. The project is dealing with the German colonial rule in the region and the violent dispossession of the Tanzanian people by appropriating objects and ancestors. In 2020, the Moshi District Council issued an official request on the whereabouts of ancestors and objects from the Kilimanjaro district and their potential return.  

Zudem gab

Furthermore, the SES were honoured to host several delegation visits from Tanzania, the latest in November 2023. These visits focus especially on the repatriation of ancestral remains, as well as on objects with a direct relation to the Tanzanian resistance fights against the colonial violent oppression in former German East Africa. The delegation visits were made possible through the civic engagement of Leipzig Postkolonial and Berlin Postkolonial e.V.. Furthermore, the personal commitment by Mnyaka Sururu Mboro and Isabelle Reimann in organizing and accompanying the visits was crucial for the collaboration. The museum is grateful for these partnerships and joint efforts by civil society and the communities in Tanzania.  

You can find further information on the respective collections, the request and the German colonial rule in Tanzania with a focus on the geographer and traveller Hans Meyer from Leipzig in our exhibitions. The exhibition projects were created in collaboration with the artists Rehema Chachage and Valerie Amani, as well as the artist collective PARA.