Following its successful launch in 2023 three pilot projects have been selected for funding by the Franco-German Provenance Research Fund for Cultural Objects from Sub-Saharan Africa. Six further projects will start their work in 2025.
Two projects of up to 18 months will shed light on the provenance, significance and historical context of cultural objects from Sub-Saharan Africa that are currently part of French and German museum collections.
By researching colonial photographs, the PHOTOTOGO project is tackling a body of work that is atypical for traditional provenance research. It is investigating a previously little-researched collection of photographs from Togo in the Museum of Nature and Man in Freiburg and its utilisation within national colonial propaganda. The project will mobilize a transnational and interdisciplinary network, experts from Lomé, Marseille and Freiburg.
The DIASKW project will focus on the ‘Kulturen der Welt’ collection at Lübecker Museen, studying two groups of objects, the first from what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the second comprising human remains, masks and sculptures from Congo and Cameroon. The aim is to establish the circumstances of their acquisition, in close collaboration with their communities of origin.
In addition, four projects are benefiting from a new funding mechanism specifically dedicated to networking activities, supporting mobility and exchanges for a period of one year, with the objective of consolidating larger-scale projects.
The project PROV-GUI is dealing with collections of objects from Guinea in the museums of Saxony that have been largely unexplored. COULEURS is expanding the methodological scope of provenance research with its chemical analyses of textile objects and colours. The RÉPARER L’ABSENCE project is conducting a participatory investigation into collections of objects and stuffed animals, bringing together French and German researchers, and Senegalese institutions and communities. Finally, the CADEAU SENGHOR project highlights the transnational nature of provenance research by examining a collection of African objects in Brazil using a comparative approach and archival research in Germany and France.
Prof. Souleymane Bachir Diagne, chair of the scientific advisory board, assessing the Fund’s development: “The second funding phase once again demonstrates how varied and collaborative provenance research can be. These projects contribute to the thematic and geographical diversification of the field, thus underlining the Fund’s ambition to promote interdisciplinary and methodologically innovative provenance research. These projects combine scientific excellence with a strong commitment to dialogue with the communities of origin.”
Launched in 2023 by the French and German governments, the programme “Franco-German Research Fund on the Provenance of Cultural Objects from Sub-Saharan Africa” aims to promote research into the provenance of African objects in public institutions in both countries.
New applications within the generic call can be submitted until 15 January 2026, while applications within the networking and partnerships call can be submitted until 30 December.
Contact
Dr Julie Sissia – Scientific Director
Email:julie.sissia@cmb.hu-berlin.de
Philon Griesel – Press contact
Email: philon.griesel@cmb.hu-berlin.de