#markk

Katzen! (05.12.25-29.11.26)

An exhibition in Hamburg is currently taking account of Germany’s colonial rule in Cameroon and the opposition it triggered. A broad range of artefacts and documents is used to tell the story of King Rudolf Duala Manga Bell, who was executed by German officers. The exhibition’s target group is young people and their families – and the general idea is to raise awareness of colonial history.

by Anke Schwarzer | D + C, August 2021

A large-format graphic novel stretches along the  walls,  winding  past  contracts and  correspondence,  old  portrait  photographs  and  new  artworks.  It encircles  wooden  “tange”  –  canoe  prow  ornaments  made  by  Cameroon’s coastal  communities  –  and  a  “kaba”,  a  Ngondo  festival  dress  owned  by Queen Mother  Delphine  Douala  Bell.  The  special  exhibition  “Hey  Hamburg, kennst  Du  Duala  Manga  Bell?”  (“Hey  Hamburg,  do  you  know  Duala Manga  Bell?”)  at  the Museum am Rothenbaum – Kulturen und Künste der Welt (MARKK) focuses on the German colonial period in Cameroon.