Self-reflection and postcolonialism in GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde in Leipzig
Ethnological museums have become subject of research and reflection undertaken by critical studies and cultural anthropology. For several decades there has been ongoing discussion on their colonial past, their relation to art museums, their mission in the age of mass migration, as well as the way they shape the image of non-European communities and cultures and develop systems which classify things.
This paper focuses on an analysis of Werkstatt Prolog (Working Space Prologue) conducted by GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde in Leipzig and presents the self-reflexive and postcolonial character of the museum. I attempt to answer the following question: can a museum that was founded on the colonial past become a space for intercultural meetings for which a reference to the past will be liberating, not paralyzing?
