According to the Ethnological Museum of Berlin’s records, the 23 belongings were removed from Namibia between 1884 – 1919.
This period encompasses the early years of German occupation of Herero and Nama land, the subsequent genocide of 80% of Herero and 50 % of Nama people by Germans, and the years of German colonial rule that followed thereafter.
The specific details around the looting of each of the belongings is not known.
In 1990, the Museums Association of Namibia (MAN) was established, and in 2002 it was mandated, by the Namibian government, to facilitate museum development across the country.
This mandate has largely been frustrated by the lack of Namibian belongings in the country, and the major knowledge gaps that have been left behind by colonial pillage and plunder.
MAN’s mandate includes the return of expatriated cultural belongings and this is deeply entangled with the broader objective of growing Namibia’s museum and heritage sector.
In May 2022, the cultural belongings were returned to Namibia on “permanent loan”, and in June 2022, the Namibian Museum of Fashion – the soon to be home of the 23 cultural belongings – opened its physical and virtual doors to the public.
The project culminated in an exhibition, Reconnecting with Returned Cultural Belongings at the National Art Gallery of Namibia, where the 23 cultural belongings were exhibited alongside the artistic interpretations.
The intention was to create a space and opportunity where contemporary Namibians could begin to reconnect with their belongings and their stories.
In 2024, just prior to the exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Namibia, the status of the belongings changed to “permanently returned”.
