The value of things: museums and communities

⇒ Versão em português
⇒ Deutsche Version
⇒ Version en français

In 2019, film makers Carlos da Silva Pinto and Roberto Manhães Reis produced five short videos on exhibition pieces at the Ethnological Museum Berlin (EMB) and the Museu Nacional de Antropologia in Luanda (MNA), thus showing the common and special features of the two collections. The films were shot both in the museums and in the source communities in Angola. Three of the objects are found in similar form in both museums, two objects are a unique feature of one collection only.

The short documentaries bring to life the history of the pieces, their symbolic or ritual significance as well as their current integration into the different Angolan societies of today. During filming, Carlos da Silva Pinto and Roberto Manhães Reis were accompanied by the anthropologist Engrácia de Oliveira from the MNA, who gave scientific advice and conducted the interviews.

In both museums, the films can be viewed via video stations and not only explain individual objects exhibited there, but they also impressively show the multifaceted connection and common history of the two collections. At the same time, they raise many questions: Why were the pieces collected? What significance do they have today and for whom? Who raises claim to them and on what grounds?