Headdress
In his reports to von Linden, Bertram wrote that this headdress used to belong to “Chief” (“Häuptling”) Njolo Soemango.
Southern Cameroon, Njem, before 1908, inv. no. 056015
Felt, textile, cowrie shell, ceramic buttons, wood, plant fiber
Linden-Museum Stuttgart, photo: Dominik Drasdow
Serving spoons / ladle
Spoons or ladles similar to this are still used to serve food and water in the Baka hunter-gatherer societies who live in the forest region of south-eastern Cameroon. The symbols carved on them could change from one family to another.
Southeast Cameroon, Njem, before 1908, inv. no. 055908
(Bottle) pumpkin
Linden-Museum Stuttgart, photo: Dominik Drasdow
Drum
On the last day of their trip to the Southeast, the Cameroonian project partners visited the village of Mejoh, where similar drums are still made. This drum does not tell of the influence of European colonialism on local customs, but of inter-African cultural exchange and especially of the influence of Fang Beti culture in this region.
Southern Cameroon, Njem, before 1908
inv. no. 055784
Wood, animal skin
Linden-Museum Stuttgart, photo: Dominik Drasdow
Project partners
Prof. Germain Loumpet from Foumban (right) researches Cameroon's cultural anthropological and archaeological heritage. He was the LAB's scientific expert. Tah Kennette Konsum (left) is a teacher and activist. He runs the Museum Soul of Africa in Oku. One focus of his work is the "translation" of cultural heritage to younger generations. The third project partner Stone Karim Mohamad (not in the picture) is a poet and filmmaker living in Stuttgart.
Copyright: Linden-Museum Stuttgart, photo: Harald Völkl
LindenLAB 6
Trails from the Storage. Searching Histories’ Futures
1 July 2022 - 25 June 2023
The LindenLAB 6 exhibits – for the first time in the ‘modern’ history of the Linden-Museum – a selection from the 238 objects that were shipped to Karl Graf von Linden by Hermann Karl Bertram in 1908. Bertram was a first lieutenant of a so-called ‘Schutztruppe’ in Cameroon and participated in the ‘Southern Expedition’ between 1905 and 1907. This military campaign was geared at subjugating the political institutions of southeastern Cameroon, gaining control over the region and favoring the interests of European trading companies active in the area at that time.
The three partners of the LindenLAB 6 - Prof. Germain Loumpet, Tah Kennette Konsum and Stone Karim Mohamad - have in different ways long been engaged in reflecting on the histories embedded in Cameroonian cultural heritage. Sharing a path from the museum storage back to southeastern Cameroon, they came into contact with a long-lost historical collection and with each other. Through this, they are sharing glimpses into a lively discussion concerning current politics of cultural memories and heritages, both in Germany and Cameroon.
The LindenLAB is funded by the Ethnological Collections Initiative of the German Federal Cultural Foundation.
Further information: www.lindenlab.de
