Institution im Wandel: Über kollaborative Praxis im Ethnologischen Museum und Museum für Asiatische Kunst

Erfahrungen, Herausforderungen und institutionelle Dynamiken nach der Eröffnung des Humboldt Forums

Abstract

After the intense years of relocating and opening their permanent exhibitions at the Humboldt Forum, the Ethnologische Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst are now focusing even more than before on transcultural cooperations. Since the launch of the large-scale initiative ‘The Collaborative Museum’ (CoMuse, "Das Kollaborative Museum") in early 2023, this has been the emphasis of the programmatic work of the museums and the numerous projects that have been initiated. Both museums are increasingly developing multi-perspective and collaborative approaches to the research of the collections and are testing new formats of cooperation with the international museum- and scientific community as well as with representatives of societies of origin. CoMuse understands these collaborations not as a supplementary element, but as constitutive for a new ethical and epistemic orientation of museum work. In doing so, it also focuses on structural challenges – for example, in relation to methods, personnel structures and decision-making processes. The newly created positions within CoMuse, including restitution coordination, postcolonial provenance research, education and outreach, and CoMuse fellowship program coordination, reflect the efforts to anchor collaboration both methodologically and infrastructurally within the museums. The interview provides a framework for reflections in which employees of the Ethnologische Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst jointly discuss their experiences, expectations and the associated challenges of institutional change in the recent years and take a look to the future.