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Benin Initiative Switzerland: Research and Dialogue with Nigeria
Eight Swiss museums, including the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich and the Museum Rietberg, are investigating the provenance of their collections from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria. The aim of the Benin Initiative Switzerland is to investigate the origins and biographies of the Benin objects with full transparency. Exchange and dialogue with Nigeria are at the forefront of this venture.
https://rietberg.ch/forschung/benin-initiative-schweiz
https://www.musethno.uzh.ch/en/About-us/The-Swiss-Benin-Initiative.html
Africa Art Archive
Hans Himmelheber’s personal collection and archive was donated to the Museum Rietberg by his family between 2013 and 2022. In the meantime, an entire research network has grown up around the cooperation between Museum Rietberg Zurich and the University of Zurich, combining historical and ethnological, and artistic and curatorial positions. The contributions from Africa, Europe, and America deal with the (post)colonial Himmelheber archive from multiple perspectives: in working papers and multiple readings, with art projects, and through exhibitions.