what interests me thus far into this, yet the only koenig specializes in these crucial questions. she was appointed director of the ethan logical museum in 2001 and asked to develop a more sensitive and open approach to dealing with the colonial history of the collections. she is not happy about how it turned out via hum for a long time. we kept hoping that we will be given an empty white space. outside was the palace facade inside. we just wanted a white cube, but i was planning, progressed. the palace took up more and more space. we often saw how the people developing content for the humbled forum struggled with the projects internal contradictions, tensions and complex structures. much as august as humboldt for under sign of some say the humbled for me such a challenging project because of its size for me, it was more because of the structures on management,

the bosses kept changing as the institution develop, eons. these are institutes showing emma unders foreign in hardly, sometimes there was a lack of direction at the tone and an absence of clear goals. and that's a failure of communication with various communities as to what the project was really about. the process that's act that was all supposed to change in 2015, surrounded by bare walls and scaffolding. federal commissioner for culture, monica quarters presented niel mcgregor, the popular former director of the british museum in london, which meant to win over public favor as head of the humboldt forums founding director it. but in the end, even he could not provide what the forum needed a new way of doing museums. all that dead of all people, the former director of the world's biggest imperialist colonialist, museum of british museum,

was appointed head of the humbled forum. i don't know what he had in mind or if he had anything particular in mind. but the one thing that was central to our agenda was what he couldn't provide. and that was a change of narrative, a presentation of multiple perspectives more to perspective. i don't know how many times i explained this to neil mcgregor in words and images. i always had the impression he didn't care by then any major changes to the humbled forum. we're pretty much out of the question. as plans for the interior had been almost finalized. mcgregor stayed on the job for 3 years. he did not fulfill the high expectations. the history of berlin is also featured at the humbled forum. a species curator of the berlin exhibitions. he's from the netherlands and used to be director of the amsterdam city museum. so he contributes an outsider's perspective

. he has followed the critical discussion in germany about the humbled forum. i let the cookie come for me. i can appreciate all the criticism of the humble forum, carrying down the palace of the republic with no efforts to restore any of it. and i understand the dismay, and then deciding to reconstruct the old palace how annoying, why not build something new and moderns? why build a face? on the other hand, how amazing is this unusual grand gesture on the part of germany to devote its best site at the center of the center of the center not to itself, but to the world. that's just, that's mind blowing. it's easy for me to defend that decision because i'm not german. and as an outsider, i can say, well done my compliment. as to content, i am responsible for 4 and a half 1000 square meters of dia is that me outside is berlin. upstairs the world, we are the bridge between berlin and the world lean or the weight

as we track the development of the project, we couldn't help thinking that there wasn't really one single humbled forum, but many different humbled forums with different protagonists pursuing different visions. just this is steven, this is what all the buzz is about. this is the space for the berlin exhibit for it has 3 side with big, beautiful, high ceiling rooms must be up. and i guess we can think of this area as a unit. the exhibition starts here. here is the university, then comes the berlin exhibition, then upstairs, the ethnic, logical museum and asian art and the roof terrorists. find this creature has come to explore its new home. after completion, it took up residence in the humboldt lab voice

when visited via the roots of what university can be found in the early modern cabinets of art and curiosities in the old royal palace that stood on this very site when we're not interested in visual appeal, or how attractive an object may be, but in knowledge. so how come must have been, you know, still has many visitors will be coming from the berlin exhibition. exiting it, they are involved. and here is the entrance to our exhibition of any official. many people will come and see fish. the deeper meaning of this swarm of fish is that in a playful manner, shows how we are part of the world around us. and what we do with human has an impact on the world. the interactive swarm represents current research into swarm intelligence. the concept has found application in areas such as researching social networks, intelligent traffic control,

and even the behavior of museum visitors the humble lab of humble university hopes its movable displays and complex video projections will get the public interested in the science behind it can spend, i to department is possessive with a great fan of the pallets of the republic. and i think it's really regretable that not even part of it was preserved. but i consider that a great crime company moves, but i'm also excited about the opportunities of the homewood volume to dream up and create new kinds of exhibition noise in the high tech inside fake the rock on the outside from coastal i was commissioned to recreate the ornate decorative barrack crests above 2 portals. it took him a year and a half. his enthusiasm for the beauty and craftsmanship that goes into every

element of the facade is contagious. was a top priority is vitality bringing the baroque era to life for the visitors. he had no original plans to work from. none had survived as a bench for those to me for him, i have photos that show what i have to do with it and they are my reference point. as i think about volumes and their impact. photos are 2 dimensional, not 3. so i have to work out the depth and volumes myself because he started by creating a model with clay. this was coded in silicon to create a mold which was then cast in plaster to serve as a model for the stone sculptures. the reconstruction project gave a boost to various art dismal trait. 3000 blocks of sandstone had to be sculpted for the new old facade all financed by donations.

essentially, it's a difficult task. we don't only have newly sculpted pieces for the reconstruction. we also have original fragment of the problem is will they fit together given all the fine differences at the edges? and we're talking about 10 or 12 tons and it all has to come together as one p i the architect of this hybrid building as the italian franco dana. he says people need to see the royal palace in order to fully experience berlin's historical cityscape. that was centered around it. in a hot mark adorned a middle courtyard of 3 franco, stella designed them so that 2 of them were accessible at all times, making them part of public urban space. oh, the courtyard, the roofed for the entrance hall for visitors. oh, i eastern thought is modern and design and

made of pre cast concrete components. postwar prefabs, are common site in berlin. but the juxtaposition of prefab and brock is new in. ah, husband directed both at the modern architecture of the building and that the detailed reconstruction of iraq elements, the reconstructed dome, is not made of bricks. its frame is composed of 242 tons steel girders. at the technical level old and new function together well. but the modern parts of the building simply co exist with the rock looking parts, letting them basking glory without any commentary or even tension. we consider that a major failing of the humbled forum.

the architecture should have taken up a question of what it means to display artifacts from other cultures here. if it had somehow subverted the imperial pomp, perhaps with powerful modern elements. the forum might have acquired a different, more open symbolic significance. and perhaps us wage those critical of the idea of reconstructing the old palace in the 1st place directly beneath the dome or some of the most spectacular spaces and exhibits buddhist wall paintings from caves in what is now china? yeah, yeah, yeah. even here it is. these are the, you are the reconstructive, in but incomplete. have heard of the visitors will have the feeling they are actually inside a cave in either one sort of that's the challenge we face. how do you exhibit a case? a cave is a negative space, and that's why we came up with the idea of recreating the landscape and displayed

in what looks like their original setting. the beautiful paintings inspire a sense of all one rarely feels in an exhibition buddhist monks meditated among these images. one and a half 1000 years ago. even in a museum, the cave of the ring bearing doves feels deeply spiritual. the term museum started migrating from dallas to the humbled forum in 2016. what was left behind was re fashioned into the dollar research campus. more than $20000.00 artifacts were moved, including anything from southern pacific boats to tea cups. when this boat was moved to the humbled forum, it was not yet commonly known that its acquisition involved, colonial era crimes. slowly

the interior has been taking shape. street artists created graffiti at the entrance to the berlin exhibitions. their work covers all the major seams of the forum from alexander, from humbled travels to bismarck campaigns to seize colonies. i this room is the starting point for expeditions through the history and stories of berlin. enhanced with digital and interactive technology. this is the late 19th century kaiser panorama looking through the pieces visitors enjoy vivid 3 dimensional color images of the world. or at least of what they were meant to see if the world dates to the period when the german empire sought to expand its territory. capturing colonies by force along the way. artifacts from around the world were pillaged to be put on display back home. that too often involved force.

it's a difficult legacy. the humbled forum has yet to address the ethnic logical museum was founded in 873 my ad off boston. as a ship's doctor. he witnessed the brutal eradication of indigenous peoples through the course of colonialism. he considered the museum as a way to secure the material legacy of endangered cultures. particles which clear their spheres. this in, from today's perspective, it's very, very hard to appreciate the mindset of the key players back then. they were no doubt motivated by scientific curiosity about people and cultures around the world . but von, those who financed it all were motivated by the colonialist drive to appropriate the world for raw materials. and they set the terms of reference even for those

whose aims were noble and scholarly leisure. taylor half town cut off bossy and wanted to create a museum where human kinds common heritage could be researched. sadly, he failed, but what he sought to achieve resembles the basic idea behind the humbled form. can that vision still be fulfilled today? and if so, how? in 2017 we met jonathan fine. who would later had the ethnic logical museum when he was curating an exhibition entitled beyond compare. it posed the uncomfortable question, whether it was a colonialist mindset that led us to characterize african art as cult objects, and christian cult objects as art. these collections are things that when we look at them today are very difficult. i

want to say to colleague who said, if we looked at these museums today, we would probably never billed them. and if we looked at these collections today, we would probably never assemble them, but they're here. they exist and we now have to decide what to do with them. so what will the humbled form do with the problematic collections? it has been built to display to find out, we toured the exhibition space in the humbled forum in 2021 with jonathan, fine and tim than to media. so this is the pedestal where we're going to be putting the throne from the kingdom. remarkable object. it brings to a point, a lot of this sort of questions that people have about the colonial era cation point. a throne is degrade the new old palace. but it did not come from the whole southern dynasty. rather it belonged to king,

enjoy of by moon of western cameroon. i always thought it was a gift to the kaiser. is that not the story? well, it is, but it's gifts are complicated. we know that he really didn't want to give up the throne and be what went through his mind. what calculation did he have to make? was he going to lose face if he didn't give something important to the cause or was he going to lose power? if he didn't give something important to the cause of a right royal gift from one ruler to another or a tribute, it had to be paid to the colonial master. phil home. the 2nd and 2017. we went with jonathan, fine to cameroon, to find out more about the throne. what do people there? think of the country's colonial past. if the throne had not gone to berlin,

it would now belong to this man. the sultan of bon sim. bumble enjoy the grandson of king joya, who reign during the period of german colonial rule. ah, problems director of cultural affairs works closely with the sultan. the throne is a sensitive subject. he tells us. ah, ah, shall we keep back? no day passes without us having to talk about the throne. tourists who come here always ask you, what is the throne of the king of by moon doing in berlin? about fair and then? ah

some say the german stole the throne on either one of those think it wasn't a gift or if it was one, then a full do foresee a comparable what do you say to that? so on thursday bally we think that the by moon people maintained a marriage of convenience with the germans back then how would i characterize the relationship nowadays while they divorced in the near future? don't we hope not to we. we very much hope that time will be revived through

greater cultural cooperation feel bad could join the germans will appreciate the mutual benefits of helping us preserve our cultural heritage. the throne in berlin is an ambassador of our rich culture. returning your life to it. i said, you know, one of the things i took away from our discussions was the clear wish for germany to live up to its historical promise of friendship. and i think one of the things we can do is make that expectation clearer to the german public. and to make that expectation clearer, to german politicians in berlin, we go to savvy contemporary art space to meet its director, move on to the comb. he's the renown curator who has also put together shows that

the famous document to art exhibition in castle he's interested in the impact of colonialism and the way europe and museums display non european cultures onto the cong, grew up a 100 kilometers from, from bon, and has heard the story of the throne ever since he was a child. the culture ambassador of germany to the us doesn't belong to the us. that belongs to germany, right? then we should apply if we want to use the analogy of the culture ambassador in the throne should belong to the people from one, right? so i'm all for cultural ambassadors, so leg gemini, syn, also a very important work from it's, you know, culture to come as a culture. i'm better that we should put it in the museum as well. it just fine.

but until we do that, it's just a one way street. so if you want to look at shared heritage, let's share everybody's every day. i'm not just some people's and the other is not . what should happen to the throne in the future for me is very much an open question, because like many of the things in the humble forum, we now have this past. we've looked into it, we are looking into it. and as we know more about it, we may want to make different decisions about what should happen to the objects for the future. should they go back? should they stand germany? the debate about the humbled forum has brought such difficult questions to the attention of a wider public in preparation for the move from dollars. jonathan fine and restores inspected some of the most highly contested items in the ethnic logical museum. the beneath bronzes, the masterpieces from the wild kingdom of beneath were looted by british forces during a punitive palace rate in $1897.00 in what is now nigeria. later,

many pieces were eventually sold. what the humbled form does with the bronze and ivory works is a key test of its avowed commitment to explore new ideas and truly pursue cultural exchange with other countries. as equals for decades, nigeria has demanded the return of its looted treasures. it wasn't until 2021 that any progress was made regarding the benign bronzes. how does restitution work? and why are museums so often reluctant? the for fun. barracka mission that he procedure for returning items looks like that is good to visit with the board of the prussian cultural heritage foundation has to make the decisions director towards the president or museum director can't do. so. it really has to be the top level bodies like it isn't. and then there's the question of the recipient is too clear. and for any object to be rest of today, we have to determine who the rightful owner and i was. the on the status is a national museum, a local community,

and it can get complicated. but what i can say is that we shall give back to beneath bronzes sort of key. some will go to a new foundation being set up in nigeria. other items will remain on display in the humble forum. the question is, how will these objects with such a troubled past be presented to the public? this is where this multimedia program, which is really a multiscreen film, right, will be presented. and all the voices from europe and africa, including the oba and scholars from africa, will talk about the provenance of the benny bronzes. the idea is using very simple questions to get people to open up and talk openly. what are the been in bronzes? what do they mean to you? what should happen to them in the future? and then to really hear what people have to say about that topic. this concept of really exhibiting the discussion of provenance and the work of the been in dialogue

group was already there when i started 10 years ago. and that's been really the central theme of this entire room of the exhibit. what is the future? what should happen to these objects? that's an openness that i really treasure about this process. cultural institutions should be relevant to society. the need to address the colonial pass is not only a weighty responsibility, but also an opportunity for museums to take a leading role in an important societal debate. as for the humble forum, the symbolic significance of the new old royal palace is always in the way a group of enormous angels exemplify the problem. they form part of the lantern on top of the palace dome and support a huge golden cross. they were formed in wax than coated in clay to create a mould for pouring in bronze at

a temperature of $1150.00 degrees celsius. that is, by the way, the very same technique used to create to beneath bronzes. the christian seam dome has proved controversial inscribed, rounded space is a quote from the new testament that at the name of jesus, every knee shall bow of those in heaven and of those on earth. and of those under the earth in may 2020, the cross was mounted on top. it's almost 5 meters tall and an unmistakable projection of faith and power. it too was financed by a hefty donation. it may be a historically accurate replica, but it highlights the disparity between the buildings, retrospective, exterior and the forums. progressive agenda, the cross as an ideological statement. allies the pluralist vision of the forum.

just a few meters beneath the cross under the dome buddhist painting speak of the peaceful power of meditation. sincere efforts to promote understanding among cultures are overshadowed by such unequivocal imagery. hardwood dog alone is general. director of the humboldt forum is lava. does he this side? each ear has to find its own answers to such questions in architectural turn for the full nurse did feel halter built in view. today i expect we would have gone with a different architectural solution in the header disk was only about impala, and i'm sure the discussion about the pallets of the republic would have been very different from what it was right after the fall of the berlin wall. the florida, 3 years after, if you'd like, i think we much more aware nowadays of the implications on the messaging of a fixing royal crowns to a facade will sticking crosses the talk? rock inscriptions, the reconstruction is never innocent on the constable. yet it's woodman lawyer in late 2020. so humboldt forum had

a digital opening and refilled the 1st glimpses of its interior. who was aman? they're hungry for me on. it's a great pleasure to welcome the humboldt for the world of museums, the concise lines. they have, but it has yet to prove itself to a steady stream of visitors and rotating events. as humboldt for him is the surface onto which many varied ideas and wishes projected we are not a museum, but a cultural, dental, dental. oh, the humble forum, join an ensemble of institutions from the museum island. but will it truly be a meeting place for cultures from around the world? perhaps it might start out as a place where we address our historical blind spots. oh, i mean setting off on an adventure, the humble forum has to talk about this adventure, even though we don't know where it will take us.

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