On March 7th, 2020, a workshop with H.M. Ness Essombey Ndambwe, (King of the Chefferie Sodiko), Bianca Baumann (Landesmuseum Hannover), Isabella Bozsa (Städtisches Museum Braunschweig), Paul Tchonang (Musée de Bangoua) and other participants, such as artists and representatives of the press, took place at Chefferie Sodiko, a kingdom in the Bonabéri district of Douala. The event, titled “Débats internationaux sur la provenance des biens culturels issus de contextes coloniaux. Atelier interdisciplinaire sur les biens coloniaux et la coopération avec les chefferies traditionnelles” was organised by Legrand Tchatchouang, Prince of the Chefferie Bangoua (West Region,Cameroon) and initiator of the « Kamerunhaus » in Berlin. The aim of the workshop was to exchange information about colonial collections from Cameroon, which are located in Hanover and Brunswick. The focus was on questions concerning various acquisition modalities of ethnographic objects during the German colonial period in Cameroon, their current significance and the future handling of these collections. Demands for restitution and forms of cooperation between German museums and local kingdoms in the West Region of Cameroon and Littoral, such as the Chefferie Sodiko, were also discussed. The aim of PAESE, to make the researched collections transparent and publicly accessible in a database on the website, was welcomed by the participants. In addition, considerations were made to make the objects that are currently preserved in Europe temporarily accessible in Cameroon, for example through an exhibition project. An exhibition could provide the opportunity for objects to be identified by the local population and lead to permanent restitution. The event also contributed to the networking of the research project PAESE with other actors involved in the debate on the handling of objects from colonial contexts in Cameroon.

Further Information: DOSSIER DE PRESSE ATELIER BIENS CULTURELS DEPLACES