„Traces of Memory - The shield of the Kikuyu“

Looted art, restitution and provenance are buzzwords that dominate the debates about artifacts that Germany often illegally appropriated during the colonial period. My photo project follows the traces of a wooden shield (Ndoome) that has been in the collection of the Rautenstrauch-Joest -Museum in Cologne for over a hundred years. The shield once had ceremonial significance for the Kikuyu, an indigenous community living in what is now Kenya. I concentrate on the different meanings of the artefact, which is perceived differently depending on context and perspective. In doing so, I follow the work of Juma Ondeng from the National Museum of Kenya, who wants to research this object and shed light on its exact origins by using a 3D-Print. The Kikuyu shield is just a symbol of the Kenyans' struggle to gain sovereignty over their history and to preserve the traditions of their ancestors, such as those of the Kikuyu and the Luo. Thus, the search for the exact origin of the shield in Kenya and its meaning is also a question of what significance the ancient traditions and mythologies have for the identity of today's Kenyan population, which is divided into more than 40 ethnic groups.