Name: In the Beginning was the Belt - Braunschweig Ethnographica, Souvenirs & Colonial Trophies
Start: 2023-10-09T02:00:00+02:00
End: 2030-11-01T00:59:59+01:00
Location: Städtisches Museum Braunschweig

In the Beginning was the Belt: A Museum Experience between Provenance, Memory and Colonial Critique

At the Municipal Museum Braunschweig, the new permanent exhibition leads to a sensory and reflective exploration of the works. In the Beginning was the Belt connects ethnographica, travel souvenirs, and colonial trophies into an artistic experience that not only shows objects but also makes their origins, their paths, and their interpretations visible.

An Exhibition on the Biography of Things

The presentation responds to the question of provenance with museum openness. Instead of a closed narrative, a processual ensemble emerges, re-reading the collection in light of current ethical debates. At the center are objects from very different contexts, collected by sailors, merchants, doctors, soldiers, researchers, early tourists, and emigrants. Thus, ethnology is experienced here not as a distant canon, but as a living cultural history.

Colonial Contexts, Critical Perspectives

Particularly impressive is the engagement with the cartridge belt of the OvaMbanderu leader Kahimemua from present-day Namibia. The museum situates the object within questions of theft, return, memory culture, and responsibility. This is precisely the strength of the exhibition: it connects art-historical categorization with cultural education and makes colonial collecting practices legible for visitors.

Five Thematic Rooms as Intellectual Milestones

The exhibition is divided into the rooms Connected, Travel Souvenirs, Images of the Other, Colonial Heritage, and Further Thought. This dramaturgy creates a clear curation and gives each station its own resonance space. Whether ship model, ritual drum, or salt container: The works and objects unfold a dense exhibition atmosphere through the interplay of material, form, and history.

A Museum that Takes Questions Seriously

The Municipal Museum Braunschweig opens an important discourse space for the present and future with this ethnographica exhibition. The display connects aesthetic experience with historical responsibility, offering an art experience that goes far beyond mere observation. Anyone interested in museum work, provenance research, colonial history, and the power of objects will find an exhibition of particular relevance here.

Conclusion: In the Beginning was the Belt invites an intensive encounter with collection objects, history, and responsibility. Visitors experience an exhibition that informs, provokes, and deepens understanding. A visit to the Municipal Museum Braunschweig is definitely worthwhile in person.