Conference Report „Cameroon’s Cultural Heritage in Germany“

<Deutsche Fassung siehe unten>

National meeting on the „Atlas of Absence“ in Yaoundé, 3-5 October 2024

Focused on the theme “Cameroonian cultural heritage in Germany: Sharing knowledge for (trans)national cultural rehabilitation”,
the international conference held at the University of Yaoundé I from 3 to 5 October 2024 brought together experts, researchers, political actors and representatives of traditional communities. This meeting, which is part of the activities of the second phase of the DFG research project, „Reverse History of Collections. Mapping Cameroon in German Museums“, aimed to popularize the knowledge generated in the production phase of the book „Atlas of Absence. Cameroonian Cultural Heritage in Germany„. Over three days, debates, guided tours and communications highlighted the extent of Cameroonian cultural heritage taken away during the German colonial period from 1884 to 1920, and questioned the future of these collections through the prism of cultural restitution, cooperation or circulation, without forgetting the challenges linked to the prospects for treating this heritage in exile. The wealth of interventions offered a panoramic view of the historical, political and social aspects of the issue, part of a dynamic of sharing knowledge for a better appropriation of Cameroonian heritage.

Report provided by Prof Albert GOUAFFO, Université de Dschang

Each of the three days brought its share of reflections and in-depth discussions on the legal mechanisms, the techniques for valorising and preserving this heritage in the event of its return, the actors and actresses to be mobilized,
etc. This report aims to briefly review the salient aspects that marked the meeting for the popularization of knowledge and exchanges on this heritage that has been absent for more than a century from the communities that produced it.