Richard Bertin TSOGANG FOSSI

Biographie

Richard Bertin Tsogang Fossi is a research associate at the Technische Universität Berlin and a recognised specialist in Cameroonian cultural heritage in German collections and in provenance issues in colonial contexts. He holds a PhD in German Studies and has for several years conducted pioneering research on mapping and documenting Cameroonian cultural objects dispersed across German ethnological museums since 1884. A former Curatorial Research Fellow at the MARKK in Hamburg (2019-2020), he was a member of the curatorial team of the exhibition Hey Hamburg, kennst Du Duala Manga Bell? (2020-2022), a major project examining the German colonial legacy in Cameroon. His expertise combines rigorous scholarship, innovative curatorial work and a commitment to the restitution of looted heritage. He is co-author of Atlas der Abwesenheit. Kameruns Kulturerbe in Deutschland (2023), a reference work documenting the scale of Cameroonian collections in Germany, and has also published on the looting of architectural heritage, human remains in university collections and the networks of the colonial art market. His work examines in particular the trajectories of Cross River collections and the commercial correspondence between Hamburg, Berlin and Leipzig. As coordinator of the DFG project “Umgekehrte Sammlungsgeschichte” (2021-2025) between Berlin and Dschang, he develops collaborative research methodologies with Cameroonian partners. His participation in the project RÉPARER L’ABSENCE (Centre Marc Bloch, 2025-2026) reflects his commitment to reparative approaches to colonial dispossession. An expert in Cameroonian textiles and material culture, he contributes actively to international debates on contested heritage, combining academic rigour, cultural sensitivity and a desire to transform relations between African and European institutions.