In Summary: IIP Workshop and Tour in Germany
In session at the RJM museum
The entire IIP team converged in Germany for a 9 day workshop and tour alongside IIP partners from the Weltkulturen Museum (WKM) in Frankfurt, and the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum (RJM) in Cologne. The workshop was put together to review our progress so far, meet new friends and partners, and plan our forthcoming 2020 activities.
The team also had the distinct pleasure of meeting some of the Kenyans living and working in Cologne to share experiences and ideas of how we can work together and engage the larger community in the IIP "Invisible Inventories" exhibition project in 2021.
As part of the workshop, the team also had the unique opportunity to tour both museums' conservation departments - where we learned about the different techniques used to conserve organic and inorganic materials, and the challenges arising within the fields of conservation - and see the Kenyan objects that form part of both institutions' collections.
Towards the end of the stay, the IIP team hosted the 3rd edition of our ongoing Object Movement Dialogues sessions at the RJM museum. This 3rd edition was moderated by IIP member Sam Hopkins, and featured a panel discussion between Ms. Nanette Snoep, director of the RJM, Bénédicte Savoy, co-author of the pivotal restitution report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as IIP member Dr. Njoki Ngumi. It was lovely to see such a huge turnout for the discussion in Cologne.
The IIP team would like to thank the Goethe Institut and the German Federal Cultural Foundation, who provided generous logistical and material support to make this tour possible. The team would also like to extend warm thanks to Nanette Snoep, Clara Himmelheber and the entire RJM team, as well as Eva Raabe, Julia Friedel and the WKM team (with a special thank you to Carla De Andrade Hurst and Aurora Rodonò for their necessary and welcome insights) for the warm welcome and support during the tour.
We look forward to working together on the exhibition projects to be presented in Germany in 2020.