Floor 6 - 09 - Kolonialerbe by House of European History published on 2021-08-03T14:32:41Z For centuries, Europe’s colonial rule over vast territories and regions around the world brought wealth and resources to Europe while leaving local populations oppressed and impoverished. Niyi Olagunju’s sculpture expresses the brokenness of identity resulting from the traumatising experience of colonialism. Objects that carry spiritual, religious, social or societal meaning ended up as exhibits in European museums. This appropriation and assimilation of African history, culture and traditions violates the objects’ original meaning and results in historical rootlessness. Some European countries have begun investigating their museum collections amid calls for objects with a questionable history to be returned. Should all countries review their collections and offer to return looted objects to former colonies? To what extent do deep-rooted racial stereotypes and ideologies still influence people’s mind-set and behaviour? To what extent have historically unequal power structures infiltrated the current world order?
