For over a century, 600 cultural objects from Tanzania sat quietly in a northern German museum. The exhibition uncovers how they got there, what they mean today, and how art and research can reclaim voices lost to colonial history.
For over a century, around 600 cultural objects from Tanzania have been held in the small northern German town of Stade—largely out of public view. How did they get there, and why have they remained unnoticed?
The exhibition AMANI kukita | kung’oa (rooted | uprooted) presents the outcomes of a three-year research collaboration between Museen Stade and the Tanzanian National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR). The objects, collected by German botanist Karl Braun during the colonial period in “German East Africa,” shed light on histories of scientific exploration, colonial exploitation, and cultural appropriation.
Through tools, textiles, photographs, and documents, the exhibition invites critical engagement with Germany’s colonial past. Contemporary artworks by Valerie Asiimwe Amani, Rehema Chachage, and Yvette Kießling open new artistic and emotional perspectives on these entangled histories.
Still on view until June 9, 2025 at Schwedenspeicher & Kunsthaus Stade.
Installation “Mwiko // Home is a double-edged sword” Valerie Asiimwe Amani | AMANI kukita | kung’oa | Museum Schwedenspeicher © Museen Stade, Photo: Carsten Dammann
Installation “Mwiko // Home is a double-edged sword” Valerie Asiimwe Amani | AMANI kukita | kung’oa | Museum Schwedenspeicher © Museen Stade, Photo: Carsten Dammann
Installation “Mwiko // Home is a double-edged sword” Valerie Asiimwe Amani | AMANI kukita | kung’oa | Museum Schwedenspeicher © Museen Stade, Photo: Carsten Dammann
Yvette Kießling, multicolored ink lithograph and screen print, 2024. AMANI kukita | kung‘oa © Museen Stade, Photo: Carsten Dammann
Yvette Kießling, multicolored ink lithograph and screen print, 2024. AMANI kukita | kung‘oa © Museen Stade, Photo: Carsten Dammann
Rehema Chachage, The open weave I, film, 2025. AMANI kukita | kung‘oa © Museen Stade, Photo: Carsten Dammann
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