Weder Schwarz noch Weiß – Die Naga-Sammlung aus Nordostindien im Ethnologischen Museum Berlin

Abstract

The Naga objects of the Ethnological Museum in Berlin were collected in British colonial times during the second half of the 19th century. There was a military Naga resistance against the British. Social and cultural Naga values changed dramatically during colonization mostly because of proselytization. It is rather unknown how the process of collecting the objects exactly worked. Objects were bought or bartered by Western collectors or were just given away by the Nagas because they were told by missionaries to get rid of traditional items. At least in the case of the Berlin Naga collection, Naga objects were not taken away by military force. Early collectors as well as many of the British colonial officers and researchers had a paternalistic and sympathetic attitude towards the Nagas. After independence in 1947, India became the new colonial power for most Nagas. Christianity was established as a prominent marker of identity against the repressive Indian Hindu State. After times of neglect there is an emerging interest in old objects, even reinforced by the Baptist Church. So far no demand for restitution of any Naga objects is known. The cooperation with Naga communities started 2014 with the project on headhunting, an installation in the Ethnological Museum as part of the Humboldt Lab. As a second step of cooperation between the Ethnological Museum Berlin and Naga communities, a Naga exhibition co-curated by a Naga artist will be on display in the Humboldt Forum. Future cooperation projects will be a common database used for sharing knowledge about the objects and hopefully the opportunity of residency programs for Naga researchers who might see the collection as a part of their cultural heritage.

[Ethnological Museum Berlin, Naga Collection, Northeast India, Provenience]