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KuK-Newsletter #6 | May 2026 Conference: Museums as Monuments to the Colonial Troops | Three new research projects | Video recordings: Workshop Engagierte Kunstgeschichte | Student films on the Atlas of Absence | History of architecture under thread at Berlin’s art history institutes

Dear readers, as the summer semester is now well underway, we are pleased to share recent developments and upcoming events at KuK. In June, we look forward to the international conference Museums as Monuments to the Colonial Troops? (June 4–6, 2026), organised by the research project Repertory of Colonial Plunder. Bringing together international scholars, the conference examines the material legacies of colonial violence in museum collections, with a particular focus on Togo, Kamerun, and German East Africa. We are also delighted to introduce several new research projects at our institute. Cultural and Economic Extractivism explores the entanglements of archaeology, the oil industry, and museum formation in the Middle East, while Dr Moya Tönnies’ project Colonial Art Topography investigates C. R. Ashbee’s documentation of Arab Palestine between 1918 and 1922. In addition, the project Restorers in the “Third Reich” examines the role of conservators and their documentation as important sources for provenance research. This newsletter also highlights two video series: recordings from the workshop Engagierte Kunstgeschichte, available via the L.I.S.A. science portal, and short films on the Atlas of Absence produced by TU students. Finally, we would like to draw attention to a recent contribution to Kunstchronik, which warns of the threatened future of architectural history at Berlin’s art history institutes in light of severe budget cuts.

International Conference: Museums as Monuments to the Colonial Troops? June 4-6, 2026 Ethnographic museums emerged in close entanglement with colonial warfare and the systematic seizure of cultural objects from colonised regions. This international conference, organised by the research project Repertory of Colonial Plunder, examines the material legacies of colonial violence. Focusing on Togo, Kamerun, and German East Africa, it discusses the artefactual histories of colonial plunder and their lasting consequences, bringing together international experts in the field. Registration required. More information

New research project: Cultural and Economic Extractivism The project Cultural and Economic Extractivism: Archaeology, Museum Formation, and Resource Extraction in the Middle East, 1901–1946 investigates the historical entanglements of archaeology, the oil industry, and museum collecting in the Middle East. At its core is the question of how infrastructural, economic, and epistemological logics overlapped within extractive economies and shaped the production of museum knowledge. The project aims to systematically analyse these largely unexplored intersections and to contribute to a global history of museums and knowledge production. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). More information

New research project: Restorers in the Third Reich” The research project Restorers in the “Third Reich”: Historical Conservation Records as Sources for Provenance Research investigates the role of conservators in the appropriation of art and cultural property during the National Socialist period. The project analyses professional networks, restoration practices, and conservation documentation as key sources for provenance research. The project is funded by the German Lost Art Foundation (DZK) and the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation. More information

New research project: Colonial Art Topography Colonial Art Topography: C. R. Ashbee’s Inventory of Arab Palestine, 1918–1922 is a new project by Dr Moya Tönnies, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). It examines the contribution of the British architect, conservator, and designer C. R. Ashbee (1863–1942) to the preservation of builduing cultures, craft techniques, and the arts in Palestine between 1918 and 1922. Ashbee’s documentation is of particular importance for the art-historical study of Palestine, as many of the buildings, artistic practices, and craft traditions he recorded with remarkable attention have so far received little consideration in art history. More information

Student short films on the "Atlas of Absence“ As part of a project seminar, students produced a series of short films that visually convey questions and themes explored in the project publication Atlas of Absence. The five videos not only examine the presence of selected cultural artefacts in German museums, but also their absence in Cameroon. They can be viewed on our YouTube channel. The seminar was led by Richard Tsogang Fossi and Judith Rottenburg as part of the DFG project Reversed History of Collection: Cameroon’s Cultural Heritage in German Museums. To the films

Video Recordings: Workshop Engagierte Kunstgeschichte The video recordings of the presentations from the workshop Engagierte Kunstgeschichte are now being published successively via the L.I.S.A. science portal of the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Already available online are the Welcome & Introduction by Bénédicte Savoy and Isabelle Dolezalek (german), the presentation by Constanze Fritzsch, Ringen um die Kunstgeschichte der DDR (german), the contribution Art History Otherwise: Asking Why as Critical Praxis (english) by Suelen Calonga, and Lukas Fuchsgruber's presentation Kritik im Datenraum. Graph-Theorie für eine digitale kritische Museologie. Further lectures will be released over the coming months and can be accessed via the event page on our website as well as directly through the portal.

The Future of Architectural History at Berlin’s Art History Institutes at Risk A letter to the editor published in Kunstchronik (vol. 79, no. 4, 2026) by Christian Freigang (FU Berlin, emeritus), Kai Kappel (HU Berlin), and Kerstin Wittmann-Englert (TU Berlin) warns of the uncertain future of architectural history at Berlin’s art history institutes. Due to severe budget cuts imposed by the Berlin Senate, professorships in the field are at risk of disappearing. The authors call for urgent action to preserve the discipline and underline its importance for research, teaching, and the protection of architectural heritage. Full article (german)

Personalia

Suelen Calonga Suelen coordinates the newly founded KOPF – Knowledge Out of Place Forum, an international network connecting researchers working on African-diasporic heritage in collections abroad. The network fosters collaboration, maps displaced heritage, and supports initiatives aimed at increasing visibility and facilitating repatriation.

Victoria Frenzel Welcome to Victoria, who has joined our department earlier this year. She is working on the project Restorers in the “Third Reich”. Historical Conservation Records as Sources for Provenance Research. Her research explores the role of conservation records as key materials for provenance research during the National Socialist period.

Dieu Ly Hoang Congratulations to our colleague Ly, who will begin her PhD at the University of Oxford in October with a Clarendon Fund Scholarship. She will begin a doctoral project titled Shattered Legacies. Colonial Vietnam and the Making of Fragmented Heritage: The Champa Case (c. 1898–1956).

Yrine Matchinda Yrine, member of our Atlas of Absence team, has successfully defended her Dissertation "Presence et absence des objets religieux camerounais dans les collections coloniales des musées en allemands" at the Université de Dschang. Congratulations!

Andrea Meyer In December 2025, Andrea joined the Department of History and African Studies at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. Alongside her teaching,she continues her research on the transformation of colonial museum landscapes in West Africa after decolonisation. As part of this work, the exhibition Rediscovering Cultural Cooperation: Sierra Leone and Germany in the 1960s and Beyond was presented at the National Museum of Sierra Leone.

Iñigo Salto Santamaría After more than five years at KuK, our dear colleague Iñigo has joined the Chair of Medieval Art History at the University of Zurich as a postdoctoral assistant. We wish him all the best for this new chapter!

Holger Stoecker Holger has joined our team as an associated researcher on the project “Contenu inconnu” – Mail from Rio, together with Bénédicte Savoy. The project investigates an 1832 shipment of human remains of enslaved Africans from Rio de Janeiro to Berlin.

Serena Zanaboni We congratulate Serena on the successful defence of her dissertation Kulturtransfer, Kulturpolitik, Kunsthandel zwischen Weimar und Mailand im 19. Jahrhundert: Goethe, Großherzog Carl August, Gaetano Cattaneo und Heinrich Mylius im Spannungsfeld von Kunstautonomie und Staatsräson

Joël Zouna In November 2025, Joël was awarded the Grand Prix Astres for his PhD project The United States of America within circulations of colonial collections. Cameroonian heritage at the Field Museum of Natural History during the XXth century. This year, he was also selected for the OFAG/DFJW museum exchange programme and will spend two months at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne. Congratulations!

Upcoming talks and events

May 18, 2026: Anna-Jo Weier, Fenya Almstadt and Emilia Krellmann (Initiative Provenienzforschung stärken!), Parlamentarische Anfragen zur Provenienzforschung, Event Series ‚Resilience‘ in cooperation with the German Lost Art Foundation (DZK), online. May 19, 2026: Judith Rottenburg in conversation with Richard Tsogang Fossi, book presentation of Die Kunst der Dekolonialisierung. Vom Aufbruch der afrikanischen Moderne und ihrer planetaren Vision (Wagenbach 2026) at Buchkönigin, Berlin.   June 3, 2026: Dieu Ly Hoang, filmscreening of LOOT: A Story of Crime and Redemption, panel discussion at Doxumentale KLICK Kino Berlin. June 5–6, 2026: Dieu Ly Hoang, Musée Khai-Dinh – Approaching Colonial Museum Histories, Forum East Asian Art History, Universität Zürich. June 6, 2026: Richard Tsogang Fossi, A new cultural history of colonial violence, podium discussion at the conference Museums as Monuments to the Colonial Troops?, Technische Universität Berlin. June 10–11, 2026: Richard Tsogang Fossi, Vingt ans après. "Le dialogue des cultures": du mot d’ordre à la pratique?, Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Théâtre Claude Lévi-Strauss Paris. June 18, 2026: Yann LeGall, A Digital Repertory of Colonial Plunder, session online at WiNoDa Knowledge Lab. June 25–26, 2026: Dieu Ly Hoang, Crisis and Cultural Governance: Vietnamese Integration into the Musée Khai-Dinh’s Board in 1934, Conference Après la tempête: Afterlives of Colonial Crisis and Conflict, French Colonial Historical Society, Maynooth University, Ireland. July 2, 2026: Alexandra Germer, Neville Rowley, Iñigo Salto Santamaría, Florian Schmitt: Zum 250. Jahrestag der amerikanischen Unabhängigkeit – aus europäischer Distanz betrachtet,  Vortragsaal Kulturforum und Gemäldegalerie Berlin, Gemäldegalerie/TU Berlin. September 24–27, 2026: Anna-Jo Weier, Provenance Research Under Pressure: The Threat of Right-Wing Politics and the Challenges of Healing from a German Perspective, German Studies Association Fiftieth Annual Conference, Phoenix, United States.

Publications

Mikael Assilkinga: The Untold Story of a child from Batibo: Undoing German Colonialism in Cameroon (L´histoire jamais racontée d´un enfant de Batibo: défaire le colonialisme allemand au Cameroun), Mourning the Dead Podcast, 2026. Suelen Calonga: Gbesen Brought Me Here - My Journey With A Collection Of African Cult Audio Recordings Made In Brazil And Kept Unknown In Germany Since The Beginning Of The 20th Century, Dossier Les Traces Du Vodun Dans Les Arts Et Cultures Des Sociétés Post-Esclavage. Jogbe - La Revue des Humanités, 5, 2025, 114–135.  Suelen Calonga: A Line Back Home, Ancestral Echoes in Seven Turns, in: Foutedaki, Eirini (Ed.) Walk Notations, Berlin 2026, 143–151. Matilde Cartolari: Ambassadors of Beauty. Italian Old Master Exhibitions and Fascist Cultural Diplomacy 1930-1940. DeGruyter, Berlin/Boston 2025. Podcast on the publication: Bilder auf Reisen: Wie mit Kunst Politik gemacht wird. Yann LeGall: “Punitive” Expeditions and the Spoils of Colonial Conquest, in: Saloul, I., Baillie, B. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham 2025, 1–13. Judith Rottenburg: Die Kunst der Dekolonialisierung. Vom Aufbruch der afrikanischen Moderne und ihrer planetaren Vision, Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin 2026. Judith Rottenburg, Richard Tsogang Fossi and Samir Ammour: Student short films as  outcome of the project seminar Researching Cameroon’s Cultural Heritage in German Museums and Its Mediation. The "Atlas of Absence" in Short Films, Technische Universität Berlin 2026. Bénédicte Savoy: 1815, le temps du retour. Restituer l'art en Europe après l'Empire napoléonien, La Découverte, Paris 2026.  Robert Skwirblies: Gustav Friedrich Waagen storico dell'arte: approccio, metodo e obiettivi,in: Il mestiere del conoscitore / a cura di Neville Rowley, Bologna 2025, 12–59. Karolina Stefanski: Transformationen des Empire-Stils im Tafelsilber aus Berlin, Warschau und Wien 1797 bis 1848, Sandstein Verlag, Dresden 2026. Richard Tsogang Fossi: Domination coloniale, violence et politique d’extractivisme, in: Kokou Azamede; Bernhard Heeb; David Simo (éds.) Restes humains provenant des anciennes colonies allemandes d’Afrique de l’Ouest, Köln 2026, 186–195. Richard Tsogang Fossi: Colony: Culture, People and Wildlife Extraction as faces of the same medal. The Case of “Cameroon” (1884–1916), in: International Journal of Cultural Policy, 2026, 23. Richard Tsogang Fossi: Was bedeutete „naturwissenschaftliches Sammeln“ im kolonialen Kontext?, in: Katja Kaiser; Ina Heumann (Hg) Umgang mit kolonialen Objekten der Naturkunde. Empfehlungen, Forschung, Reflexionen, Heidelberg; arthistoricum.net 2026, 208–214. Anna-Jo Weier, Sarah Hegenbart and Emilia Krellmann: Neurechte Angriffe auf Kulturpolitik und Wissenschaft kontern, interview "Initiative Provenienzforschung stärken!", in: kritische berichte, No. 1, 2026. Joël Zouna with Richard Tsogang Fossi et al.: Provenance, Science & Profit: Natural History Museums and the Global Network of the Umlauff Natural History Trading Houses, in: RIO 12 (Research, Ideas, Outcomes), 2026.

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