African-European Museum Partnership

A workshop participant pins a yellow circular card to a pinboard, while a colleague looks on from behind. The board displays handwritten notes on a sheet of paper alongside several yellow cards labelled "Legal Status," "Case Studies," "Communication," and "How to Connect/Attract." A Goethe-Institut branded banner is visible to the right. The setting is a bright, high-ceilinged room. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

About the Component

The Africa-Europe Museum Partnership aims to create new narratives of museum collaborations within Sub-Saharan Africa as well as between Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe along the pillars collections, exhibitions and mutual learning.

At the heart of the project is a shift in how museum cooperation is understood The project grew out of a conference in Dakar, Senegal, initiated by the Goethe-Institut that culminated in the Dakar Declaration, signed by 60 museum directors from Africa and Europe. It places African museums and professionals at the centre of the work, co-designing projects, leading proposals and setting the agenda.
Thus, the project creates space for shared ownership, sustained partnerships and the transformation of narratives between the two continents.

Target Groups

Museums across Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe,
Museum professionals based in Sub-Saharan Africa, across all career levels and disciplines
Museum directors and institutional leadership

Objectives

Build multilateral, cooperation between African and European museums.
Strengthen the conservation, digitization and accessibility of museum collections in the African context.
Develop the professional capacity of museum staff from an African perspective
Transform how narratives of museum collaboration, facilitate discourse on the museum as an institution, promote research from an African perspective
Build sustainable peer networks among museum professionals and directors across both continents.

Key Focus Areas

The project is implemented through three interconnected pillars:

1. Collections
Funding the full lifecycle of collection management, from conservation and inventory to digitization, provenance co-research and community engagement,
Exhibitions
Facilitating innovative, co-designed projects from first idea to final exhibition for temporary and permanent exhibitions.

2. Empowerment
Facilitate mutual learning and exchange between Sub-Saharan museums and museum professionals through fellowships, think tanks and joint learning programmes across disciplines, career levels and language communities.

AEMP Launch Event

(AU Commission, group photograph) A large group of approximately 50 people posed for a formal photograph in front of the African Union Commission's iconic golden sunburst emblem. The Nelson Mandela Plenary Hall doors are visible on either side. Participants from across Africa and Europe stand together on the steps. — AEMP Launch Event: Opening & Formal Speeches at the AU | Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

Five panellists are seated at the formal raised dais in the AU Commission plenary chamber, applauding. The African Union and European Union flags stand on either side. The audience, visible in the foreground with their backs to the camera, also applauds. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

A wide-angle view of delegates seated at a long conference table in the AU Commission plenary chamber, applauding. Microphones, water bottles, and programme documents are visible on the table. Camera operators stand at the back of the room. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

(AU Commission, attentive delegates) Three African museum directors seated at the conference table in the AU Commission chamber, listening attentively to the proceedings. The central figure wears traditional grey attire and a translation earpiece; the man to his right takes notes in a notebook. Delegates are visible in the rows behind them. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

(AU Commission, networking) Three people in conversation in a formal wood-panelled room at the African Union Commission. A woman in a black suit stands facing two men — one in a grey blazer with a green conference lanyard, smiling warmly; the other in a navy suit with his back to the camera. An AU flag is visible in the background, alongside other guests. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

(Workshop, plenary presentation) A facilitator stands at a pinboard presenting findings to a room of seated participants. The board displays clustered notes under headings including "Museum Focus," "Communication," and "Partnership/Relevance." Goethe-Institut and African European Museum Partnerships branded banners flank the room on either side. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

(Workshop, working group) An overhead view of six museum professionals seated around a table covered in large sheets of paper with handwritten notes. The words "DELIBERATIONS" and "TYPES OF MUSEUM STRUCTURES" are visible on the paper. The room is busy with other groups working in the background. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

(National Museum of Ethiopia, arrival) A group of visitors gathers in the entrance hall of the National Museum of Ethiopia, facing a large green welcome banner in both Amharic and English: "Welcome to the National Museum of Ethiopia." A museum representative addresses the group beside a partial map of Ethiopian heritage sites. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

National Museum of Ethiopia, gallery) Four people examine artefacts displayed in a glass vitrine in a gallery with terracotta-orange walls. Exhibition panels on prehistoric cultures and stone tools line the walls in both Amharic and English. A woman in white leans forward to look closely at the objects; two others converse nearby. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

(National Museum of Ethiopia, gallery discussion) A small group of six people in conversation amid display cases in an orange-walled gallery of the National Museum of Ethiopia. Ancient stone sculptures and ceramics are visible in the cases. One participant carries a branded tote bag; the group appears engaged in informal dialogue. Goethe-Institut | © Bemnet Fekadu

African-European Museum Partnership

AEMP Launch Event

Funded by

Implemented by