FangBeti

In European museum collections assembled in a colonial context, the ethnonyms ‘Pangwe’, ‘Pahouin’ or ‘Fang’ are frequently used to designate the producer societies of objects from Central Africa. These terms refer to closely related but nevertheless distinct societies, such as the Beti, Bulu and Fang with their numerous subgroups (Ntumu, Mvai/Mveng, Betsi, Okak, Meke, etc.).

In addition to this cultural issue, there is also a territorial one: these populations occupy a large geographical area stretching from the Sanaga region in Cameroon to Lambaréné in Gabon, passing through Equatorial Guinea. Some of these territories were not only first colonised by Germany and then France, but also underwent a change of colonial authority following the 1911 treaty. As a result, what is marked ‘Kamerun’ in German museums may well come from the current territory of Gabon.

In the context of considering the possible restitution of objects, it is therefore essential to identify as precisely as possible their society and region of origin.

The aim of the project is to bring together experts who may identify Fang-Bulu-Beti objects and to begin a detailed description of them in the collections involved in this project, in order to develop a reference framework that will provide a better understanding of objects from this geo-cultural area.

The project brings together scholars from the source societies, African and German museum curators, historians specialising in the German colonial period, and experts in Fang material and immaterial culture.

The network involves the following institutions:

– in Cameroon: Museum of Ethnography and History of Forest Peoples and École Normale Supérieure (Yaoundé);

– in Gabon: Jean-Émile Mbot Research Museum at Omar Bongo University (Libreville);

– in Germany: Five Continents Museum (Munich) and University Georg-August (Göttingen).

– in France: National Centre for Scientific Research and National Museum of Natural History (Paris).

Team members will inventory Beti-Bulu-Fang objects in the collections involved and establish descriptive criteria that will enable distinctions between objects from ethnic (sub)groups and different geocultural areas. In addition to observing the materiality of the objects, contextual information will be compiled. This will involve

– identifying – where possible – the collector of each object, her/his biography, and information about her/his stay in Africa,

– verifying the places of production and collection mentioned in the metadata, as well as the object’s society of origin.

Systematic photographs will be taken and will form the basis for collective comparative reflection.