Implications of absence of religious objects for communities in Cameroon

Yrine Matchinda examines in her disseration *Presence and Absence of Cameroonian Religious Objects in Colonial Collections of German Museums (1884–1919): Cultural and Religious Implications for Communities in Cameroon* how the musealisation of sacred/religious objects affects cultural identity, collective memory, and intergenerational transmission within communities of origin.

Based on extensive archival research in Germany and fieldwork across Cameroon, the study addresses key contemporary questions related to:

  • Colonial collections and provenance research
  • Museum narratives and representation
  • Sacred objects and cultural memory
  • Restitution and heritage rehabilitation
  • Decolonisation of museums and knowledge systems
  • Cultural resilience and identity reconstruction

 

One of the central contributions of this research is the development of the concept of “absence” as a way to understand the material, symbolic, and existential consequences of displaced cultural heritage, but also the notion of Demusealisation of the sacred.