Transparency?
The Hamburg South Sea Expedition collections and their colonial contexts

[showcase on the left, left side]
The Hamburg South Sea Expedition
As competition between ethnological museums increased at the beginning of the 20th century, the then director of the Hamburg Museum of Ethnology, Georg Thilenius, developed the idea of an expedition to the German colonies in Oceania. Here, the researchers were instructed to conduct investigations and collect objects as specimens for the museum. Funded by the Hamburg Scientific Foundation, the expedition eventually took place from 1908 to 1910.

[object] Mask attachment
Artist not documented
Malmal, Jacquinot Bay, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
appropriated by Franz Emil Hellwig on 20.12.1908
wood, rattan, fibre
Inv. no. 3734 I
These mask attachments were presumably used as part of initiation ceremonies and might be abstract depictions of human figures. However, little is known about their use, and the members of the South Sea Expedition did not document any further information. The leader of the expedition, Friedrich Fülleborn, recorded in his diary on the morning of 20 December 1908 that large dance masks were acquired in the context of friendly relations. Just a few hours later, though, the researchers stole objects from another village, as shown in the display case on the right.

[showcase on the left, right side]
(In)Visibility: sensitive objects and photographs
Museums aim to be as transparent as possible and to disclose information openly. But what if societies of origin do not want certain information to be shared? Or if objects are sensitive to them and may only be seen by specific people? One aspect is certain: it is important to engage in dialogue with creator and descendant communities to work out the appropriate handling of objects, photographs, and data.

[object] Drum kundu
Artist not documented
name of the village not documented, Jacquinot Bay, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
appropriated by Wilhelm Müller on 12.03.1909
wood
Inv. no. 6383 I
On 12 March 1909, the expedition again went to see the two villages in Jacquinot Bay where a conflict had emerged during their previous visit on 20 December 1908. This time, the inhabitants had fled once more, and the expedition members decided to take dance wands with them and deposited goods in exchange. For the drum, the researchers only documented the date of appropriation, but not the location.

[photograph] ‘Man with a dance hat’
Hans Vogel, presumably 20.12.1908
Malmal, Jacquinot Bay, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Glass plate negative (13×18 cm)
Inv. no. 9.2243

The man shown in this historical photograph is possibly wearing the mask that can be seen in the display case on the left. The expedition members described the masked dancers as belonging to the Sulka people. Our research partners, who identify themselves as Mengen, and some of whom come from Malmal themselves, are currently investigating whether these could also be Mengen masks.

[photograph] ‘Masked dancer, Sulka’
Hans Vogel, presumably 20.12.1908
Malmal, Jacquinot Bay, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Glass plate negative (13×18 cm)
Inv. no. 9.2434
When we showed this photograph to our research partners in New Britain, they drew our attention to the potentially sensitive content of the image. It depicts dance masks, which were most likely only to be seen by initiated men. While our investigations are ongoing, we have decided to show both the mask attachment in the display case and the photographs of the masks behind a frosted glass film.

[photograph] ‘Dancers in Moewe Harbour’
Friedrich Fülleborn, 13.12.1908
Moewe Harbour, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Glass plate negative (13×18 cm)
Inv. no. 2.368
During a stay on the south-west coast of New Britain, the expedition members heard about a large dance festival (sing sing) lasting several days, which they immediately visited for purposes of documentation. The Hamburg South Sea Expedition was provided with a large amount of expensive equipment, including devices for recording sound, images and videos. A cinematographic recording of the festival was apparently unsuccessful, but several photographs were taken. However, the names of the people photographed and their reactions to the images were not recorded.

[showcase on the right]
Provenance research on the Hamburg South Sea Expedition
As part of an ongoing provenance research project at the MARKK, the colonial contexts of the first year of the Hamburg South Sea Expedition are being investigated. From July 1908 to June 1909, the voyage took place in the north-eastern part of New Guinea and the offshore islands of the Bismarck Archipelago. During this time, the members of the expedition lived on the steamer Peiho and were accompanied by a crew as well as a so-called police force and servants.

We re-examine the diaries of the researchers and identify situations of conflict and objects that could have been acquired illegitimately. Consultations with the societies of origin are important in provenance research, as the documentation often only allows a one-sided view on the contexts of appropriation of the collections. Cooperation partners from Papua New Guinea contribute their own perspectives on the historical reappraisal and can point out sensitive issues. In this way, pathways regarding the further care of the objects can be developed together.

[object] Drum kundu
Artist not documented
Malmal, Jacquinot Bay, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
appropriated by Wilhelm Müller on 11.03.1909
wood
Inv. no. 6352 I
During their visit in Malmal, the expedition members noted that they had difficulty communicating with the residents. Nevertheless, they went on to report that conversing was possible thanks to the Mengen interpreter Mengan and that some people took part in trading with them.

Hourglass-shaped drums are the most common type of drums in Papua New Guinea and are made from a hollowed-out trunk. They are single-headed and can be held and played in the hand. The membrane made from lizard skin, which is missing from the object on display here, is glued and additionally tied.

[Note:] Although the two drums on display look very similar, they differ in their respective provenance histories. For this reason, they are presented differently.

Diary entry by Wilhelm Müller from 20.12.1908 (afternoon):
“[…] We followed a bush track which we thought should lead us to a hill on which we had noticed coconut palms and rising smoke. Instead, we came to a higher one further inland and, as we turned around, saw the other one below us on our left. The village we found ourselves had 26 houses. Everyone had run away, but we did hear shouting not far off. In the largest one we found three ‘dance wands’ of the familiar shape from this area, which we took with us after leaving 20 rods of tobacco. We had hardly started our way back, when the village behind us came alive. Loud shouting and a stone and a spear flying towards us signalled the return of the residents. […]“ (Müller-Wismar SÜD 6.1.4 Diary 4)

With the expedition diaries, the appropriation contexts of the objects are well documented compared to many other museum collections. Nevertheless, there are gaps, especially as the names of the artists were not asked for or recorded. Short visits to the villages, some of which lasted only a few hours, communication problems, and even violent conflicts characterised the journey and thus the information that the researchers were able to obtain.

In their entries regarding the afternoon of 20 December 1908, the expedition members described how they stole dance wands from a village without the presence of the owners and left trade items in their place that they considered appropriate. They called this process ‘anonymous purchase’ or ‘silent trade’.

When dealing with these descriptions, we question the language utilised: not only are racist and derogatory terms used in the documentation, but colonial crimes are also euphemised. The terms ‘collect’ or ‘acquire’ can obscure the contexts of injustice in which objects were appropriated.

Inventory card of a dance board, inv. no. 966 I
An inventory card was made for each object in the museum, which records information about the respective object. Could this be one of the ‘dance wands’ that Wilhelm Müller wrote about in his diary? During our research, we found some evidence supporting this hypothesis and therefore suspect that it was appropriated without consent.

The exhibition texts were written and translated from German to English by Jasmin Günther (jasmin.guenther@markk-hamburg.de) and Vera Benter (vera.benter@markk-hamburg.de).