Mission & Vision

The Global Cultural Embassy (GCE) is an ongoing collective of artists, scholars, curators, activists, and community representatives. It works in close collaboration with the Humboldt Forum Foundation (SHF) and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK) in Berlin.

Mission

Our mission is to build a global community committed to social, historical, and cultural justice. We aim to establish a Global Cultural Embassy that guarantees equitable participation in decision-making processes and governance related—but not limited—to the collections held within these institutions. These standards also apply to exhibitions, public programs, institutional policies, and all other cultural activities and partnerships.

Rooted in the shared declaration “Dignity – Transparency – Continuity”, the GCE promotes pluriversal education, accessibility, sustainable and ethical collaboration, and the collective care of cultural belongings and human values. Our work is guided by mutual respect, accountability, and shared responsibility.

Vision

We envision a world in which cultural heritage is no longer centralized or controlled by a limited number of institutions, but is instead co-governed by the communities whose histories and belongings are represented.

The GCE seeks to transform institutional structures by fostering equitable, ongoing collaboration that challenges traditional hierarchies and bureaucracies. We advocate for models of partnership that establish principles of rotation, shared authority, and reimagined stewardship—creating new ways for museums and societies to engage with the past, present, and future.

Our vision reaches beyond Berlin. We strive to build a global network of artists, researchers, museum professionals, activists, Indigenous people, and cultural practitioners committed to experimenting with co-governance of heritage under a collective philosophy of care.

Values

The GCE is guided by the principles of dignity, transparency, continuity, collaboration, justice, and care. Our relationships are built on mutual trust, reciprocity, resilience, inclusivity, and a commitment to genuine care. We are guided by ethical principles that embody the strength and integrity that emerge when cultural communities work together.

Our approach is process-oriented. We are committed to learning, relearning, and unlearning—understanding that transformation requires humility and openness.

The GCE has no room for racism, sexism, homophobia, essentialism, or any other fundamentalist position that undermines human dignity.
We affirm: Unity in Diversity and Diversity in Unity.

Goals

The Global Cultural Embassy works to institutionalize participation through the creation of permanent, dignified, and sustainable structures that ensure shared governance. A central aim is the establishment of a Global Cultural Embassy within the Humboldt Forum and across its broader stakeholder community.

By connecting cultural actors worldwide through collaboration beyond bilateral partnerships, our goals include:  

• Fostering diverse forms of knowledge.
• Decentralizing power in cultural institutions.
• Advocating for the rights of communities of origin to access, represent, and care for their cultural belongings on their own terms. 

These efforts are designed to promote enduring, inclusive models of co-governance that reflect and respect the multiplicity of voices and values embedded in cultural heritage.