Togo: Forging New Connections
Starts Sat, 28 November 2026
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| 9 EUR – Exhibition ticket for Ethnologische Sammlungen and Museum für Asiatische Kunst required |
| Ethnologisches Museum, 2nd floor, Room 210 |
| Opening hours closed |
How can colonial collections be reinterpreted today? This exhibition invites critical exploration by juxtaposing historical artefacts from Togo with contemporary artistic perspectives.
Togo and Germany are linked by history: a shared history. Between 1884 and 1914 Togo was a German colony ruled by asymmetrical power relations. The Ethnologisches Museum holds cultural belongings from this era. They were appropriated through violence and exploitation on the German side and met with resistance and strategic adjustment from the Togolese.
The exhibition focuses on artefacts from the collection that have been selected by Togolese researchers. They found it particularly important that the museum holdings be made accessible, highlighting the resistance shown by the people of Togo at the time as well as their cultural diversity. Contemporary artists from Togo have produced new works specifically for the exhibition, creating a space where multiple voices come together and allowing visitors to engage with the ways in which an unresolved past continues to resonate in the present.
This throws up new questions: if we want to establish new links between Togo and Germany, what is the responsible and forward-looking approach to Togolese holdings?